Liberated Champions: For A Future Not His Own
by Epsil0nCha0s
Summary: Finale of my Liberated Champions series, sequel to "Gain Of Trust". With Leader & Jack's past still unknown, no one knows why Jack takes matters into his own hands. May & gang are sent with Lexi to discover the partners' history, while Leader finds himself trying to stop his best friend as their top priorities finally start to clash. No matter what it costs. Hinted advanceshipping
1. Chapter 1

**For A Future Not His Own**

 **CHAPTER 1**

 _ **Previously in the Liberated Champions series...**_

 _"I accepted the pain of lying to them, Jack. But I never agreed to you lying to me," Jack was surprised to feel the man's hand gently press his chest, causing him to take a few steps back towards the others. "Gina, I want you to manage Jack. He's on the sidelines this time."_

 _"What?!" Jack asked incredulously, watching Leader turn away from him. He stepped towards the man to question him, feeling another hand on his shoulder to stop him, courtesy of their silver-haired friend. "Leader, what are you doing?"_

 _... ..._

 _"Z, I'm gonna need you to protect Cynthia."_

 _"What?" Krystal's eyes widened as she watched her friend's pokemon float in front of the champion. "Lex', what are you doing?!"_

 _"Like I said, what I believe to be right," the girl responded, her expression turning serious as she stood below her pokemon in front of Cynthia, facing against her friends. "I said I wouldn't oppose Leader, but I'm afraid that defeating Cynthia is something I cannot allow Leader to do."_

 _"Lexi...!" May blinked in surprise at the girl's brave actions, watching her take a deep breath to herself. "Are you sure about this?"_

 _"Yeah, it's thanks to you, after all, May," Lexi told her, flashing the brunette a smile. "You said that I care about Leader, and I do."_

 _"But then, why are you going against him?" Misty asked, the blonde giving a slight shrug while still smiling._

 _"Because it's my choice. That's what Leader's wanted for me all this time, for all of us," Lexi's eyes drifted back towards her friends, looking at each of them carefully. "He may have his own agenda, but he still wants each of us to choose for ourselves to make our life the way we want. So I'm only following his wishes."_

 _... ..._

 _"...You don't know anything about me..."_

 _"Then you can tell us. We- I would gladly listen, just like I did with Lexi," May smiled, taking a step forward towards her._

 _"That's exactly why," May paused. "You don't know anything...You have no idea what Leader has done for me...The suffering I've had to endure that he put an end to...!" May began to worry as she saw the girl's fists clench tightly again at her sides. Then her face snapped up at her, revealing an angry glare. The brunette's hand hovered over the bracelet on her wrist, beginning to emit a dim glow from the gem embedded in it that matched the glow from a similar stone in the choker around Blaziken's neck, hidden slightly by its fur. "Because of what Leader's done for me, I owe him my life! And I will gladly repay that to the end no matter what he wants from me!"_

 _... ..._

 _"So what about that fight from earlier?" Jack's eyes narrowed on the blunette. "Was that a real fight? Or were you just acting to throw us off and lower our guard, so you can get close like this?"_

 _"...As real as day and night."_

 _... ..._

 _"You know damn well we're still partners-"_

 _"We agreed you tell me the truth, Jack, especially about this!"_

 _"You made an agreement, too! And you could very well be betraying that right now!"_

 _"Don't you dare say that, I told you I will not let-"_

 _"You can't stop it, Leader! No one can!"_

 _... ..._

 **"We're all done! We got through to them!"** _Azelf said happily, the blunette giving them a happy smile._

 _"Really? So what did they say? Will they help us?" she asked excitedly, Mesprit landing on her head as the other two took her shoulders, all pointing into the sky._

 **"Ask them yourself!"**

 _"...Eh?" the blunette blinked, everyone looking into the sky in question, their eyes widening in shock. A fair distance into the sky above them, what was perfectly clear and open a few moments ago, were now occupied by two anomalies. Both were circular in shape, glowing in a strange discolouration - one pink, one blue - as their energy seemed to ripple as if it were alive. But their surprise was not with the anomalies themselves. It was with the figures emerging from them._

 _"Oh, come on..." Jack muttered with a sigh, his eyes and Leader's narrowing carefully on the creatures while the other three stared with wide eyes in disbelief. One figure was mostly white in color, with pink lines running along its tail and neck, sharp-edged wings protruding from its back, and two large pink pearls on each of its shoulders. The other figure was built more like a canine, deep blue in color with streaks of a lighter blue running along its whole body and silver metal claws on each foot, as well as metal plating covering its chest, the sides of its head, and forming a mane on its lower back. Leader, Jack, Lexi, Dawn and Cynthia may have recognized them instantly the moment they emerged from the portals of energy, unnoticed by the others who were currently doing battle, but their presence was made known in the next moment alone. With a single devastating roar from both dragons, everyone on Spear Pillar, human or pokemon, their attention was now on the two legendary dragons of Sinnoh._

 _... ..._

 _"...You know...about the Azure Flute...?"_

 _"Of course, I've done my research on the past. You see, I've had a lot of spare time for reading..." Jack responded, smirking as his eyes carefully looked over every detail of the azure-colored flute in his hand. "It really is amazing up close..."_

 _"Jack...What are you doing...?" Jack's eyes were brought towards Leader, who had begun to slowly step towards him with concerned eyes. Jack's smirk grew._

 _"I'm finally ending this."_

 _... ..._

 **"The flute...calls him..."** _everyone's eyes were narrowed on the clouds, as all life on Spear Pillar stared into the sky. At the source of the beam of light. At the very fabled source of light itself..._

 _A white, four-legged creature, its abdomen wrapped by a golden cross-like wheel._

* * *

"This can't be...happening..."

"I'd pinch you, Krys', but...I think I need it first..."

"...Heh..."

"...What?"

"...Nothing..."

"No, go ahead. Can't be any worse than the literal _god_ descending in front of us."

"...Well...sorry, but...Gina, you look ridiculous right now."

"Are you serious, you airhead?"

"I can't hel- Ow! _Ooow!_ " the icy blunette squealed in a sharp tone, feeling her silver-haired friend swiftly yank on her ear. Feeling her friend release her grip, she glared at her. "Meanie..."

"Will you please consider the situation, for _once_?" Trevor sighed, crossing his arms. Krystal's glare quickly switched towards him.

"Well, I'm sorry I never planned ahead as a kid on how I would react on seeing _that_ in-"

"Guys!" Webb quipped in a hush, quickly silencing the group as he pointed to something. The others followed his gaze towards Leader, who had been closely facing against the deities of time and space, but was now starting to back away carefully. The brunette beside him watched him curiously, her eyes noticing his had not left the godly figure descending in the sky, following his look and catching on to his actions. She quickly joined him in moving away, everyone seeing that the figure was descending directly in front of the two dragons. Right where Leader and May had been standing. Leader turned his body to start back towards the rest of his companions, but felt a hand on his wrist, stopping him.

"Ash, wait-" she started, but the man quickly shook off her grip.

"Now's not the time for this."

"But _please_ -"

"If this were any other situation, I might've humored you at least a moment," he responded quickly, surprising the brunette. He gave a quiet sigh to himself, not raising his head to look at her. "But given this development, I'd say that is the least of my worries right now. And it should be the least of yours as well."

"...You have no idea how wrong you are," she giggled, her lips spreading into a smile. The brunette didn't notice the man's sharp gaze glance towards her for a moment, before turning back to his companions and starting towards them. May flinched as she felt her hand move instinctively towards him to stop him again, but stopped herself, hesitating for a few moments before starting towards her own group.

"Leader, what is happening? Were you planning for this? Why didn't you tell us?" Leader only closed his eyes in response to the icy-blunette's sudden rush of curiosity, turning his head away from the group towards the answers she sought.

"...I can't tell you, I sure wasn't...And I'm not the one who can answer that," he responded, the others giving a curious look as his eyes didn't shift from what he was looking at. Following his gaze, they noticed his eyes were resting on Jack, who stared at the heavenly figure with a grin.

"...It was...Jack...?" Webb asked quietly, giving a puzzled look. Trevor tightened his crossed arms closer to his chest, his eyes narrowing on the man. Gina's eyes narrowed on him as well, but for a different reason, while the remainder of the group save for Leader stared in confusion. Suddenly, Jack stepped forward towards the legendary figures towering ahead of them.

"Wait, what is Jack doing?" Dawn asked quickly, noticing the man's movement. This caught everyone's attention, especially Lexi's, as the man moved towards the two legendary dragons, as well as the heavenly figure who had just touched down on the surface of Spear Pillar. Jack grinned wider, holding his arms out to his sides as he moved closer.

"I welcome you, divine ruler of the heavens, Arceus!" the godly figure's eyes opened, revealing two green orbs which fixated on Jack down in front of them. "I welcome you to the surface of the beautiful world you had once created as a lush paradise for all of creation! I may be just a human in your all-seeing eyes, but I come here with respects to your divine power for a purpose!"

"What is he talking about...?" Max asked nervously, his eyes glancing anxiously towards Gary. "I thought we brought that flute to help _us_? How did he know we even had it before we came?"

"He didn't..." Cynthia started slowly, her eyes narrowing on the distant man. "...While you were fighting, he wanted to talk. And after I said only that we have a backup plan, he deduced the rest himself. In just a few moments."

"He figured out it was the Azure Flute in only a few moments?" Gary asked incredulously, Cynthia giving a nod.

"Jack always was sharp..." everyone's eyes drifted to the younger blonde of the group, her fists beginning to clench at her sides. "...Though he never mentioned anything about Arceus...Or plans of his own..."

 _ **"Human..."**_ nearly everyone on Spear Pillar flinched at the sudden telepathic voice, save for two men and the other legendary pokemon. The god pokemon slowly lowered its head slightly, its eyes remaining fixated on Jack. _**"...What is your name...?"**_

"...Jack," the man replied, his grip tightening on the object in his hand, holding it out towards the legendary figure. "Mighty Arceus, I have sought the Azure Flute to summon you here for a great purpose."

"What? He didn't 'sought'- or seek- Oh, whatever, he stole it!" Dawn sighed exhaustingly, giving up on determining the proper English. Jack noticed the heavenly figure's eyes shift towards the Azure Flute, the man slowly taking a step forward. Then another.

"Guys, we can't just let him do this...!" Misty said in a hush, the others sharing her worry about the situation. But who dared make a move against a so-called _god_?

"Mighty Arceus, I humbly ask you to lend me your power! My vision for this world will cause change so wonderful-"

"Hold it!"

"Wha- Leader?!" Krystal quickly reached out to stop the man, but he was already out of her reach as he quickly started towards Jack. Jack smirked, looking back over his shoulder.

"Wha- Ash?!" May gasped, noticing the man's movements towards Jack and Arceus. "What is he doing?!"

"Do not believe the words of this man!" Arceus' eyes shifted towards Leader, who had stopped beside Jack. "This man is in a disillusioned state, and summoned you without purpose!"

"You think a _god_ would buy that so easily...?" Jack chuckled quietly, lowering his head and glancing towards Leader. "Besides...I'm the one holding the Azure Flute. That doesn't spell so well for you."

 _ **"You dare approach me, human?"**_ Arceus bellowed, stomping one of its pointed hooves, easily piercing through the stone ground. Leader closed his eyes, resisting the urge to flinch, taking a deep breath to calm himself. The man straightened up, taking a few steps further than Jack before stopping, facing towards Arceus. Then, to everyone's surprise, he lowered himself to one knee, lowering his head. _ **"What is this...?"**_

"Leader...?" Trevor was unaware that his voice had uttered the word aloud, his eyes focused in disbelief on Leader - the man he respected, and had never once seen take crap from anyone - was now _bowing_.

"Mighty Arceus, I know you have no reason to believe me, but I speak the truth. I cannot allow you to lend your power to this man," Leader spoke, his left arm pointing back towards Jack, who narrowed his eyes on his former partner.

"What do you think you're doing, Leader...?" Jack asked slowly, moving his foot to step towards him, but his hearing stopped him.

 _ **"And why should I allow you to order me so casually, human?"**_ the heavenly figure asked in a terse tone, Leader closing his eyes as he kept his head low.

"Because helping him...will only bring about war."

" _What?_ "

 _"What?!"_ May and co. were unable to hold back their shock at their old friend's words, especially Lexi. Jack was her former friend, her companion, and her family. And he was planning _war_?

"...I see your game now..." Jack muttered quietly, almost in a growl, as he glared at Leader. The man in question didn't raise his head or give any response. But unbeknownst to anyone, hidden, he bit his lip after uttering those words. Those words may have needed to be said...but he hated lying so plainly like that.

 _ **"War...What exactly do you speak of?"**_ the figure asked, Leader opening his eyes and taking another breath before beginning to raise his head.

"He speaks to deceive you, holy one!" Leader flinched, his eyes darting back towards Jack, who had started towards Leader. "It is _he_ who is disillusioned! I mean to return this world to its former peace and beauty, and he means to stop that progress!"

"You know damn well-" Leader started as he turned towards Jack, getting to his feet before the two men suddenly flinched as Arceus pierced its foot into the ground again.

 _ **"My patience grows weary of you humans and your deceit!"**_ the telepathic voice bellowed, raising the hairs on the back of the necks of everyone standing on Spear Pillar. _**"If I was summoned here without purpose, you will not favor how I choose to use my power in the coming moments..."**_

"I apologize, mighty Arceus. But know that I beg you, please do not lend him your power. That is all I ask of you-" Leader started, moving to lower his head again in respect to the holy figure, but stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You think I'm just gonna let you stop this? After all this time, all the work we've done to achieve this future, and you want to _stop_ it?" Jack asked, Leader not giving a response. "...We became partners because we wanted that same future...To bring peace to this world...Why the hell aren't you trying to take this chance...?"

"...I already told you why," Jack's eyes narrowed as Leader turned towards him, his eyes expressing his dead-serious attitude towards the situation. But there was something else. Jack felt surprised, and thought he was imagining it, but it was as if there was...a glimmer of sadness in his eyes. Jack exhaled, his eyes turning back towards Arceus. "Please, Jack...You know I can't let you do this yet-"

"And yet you don't have the power to stop me. Not now," Jack replied sharply, turning away from Leader and starting towards Arceus, feeling a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "You know I'm not changing my mind, Leader."

"Maybe so...But I know there are some who can."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Jack snapped, feeling frustrated as he shrugged off Leader's grip and turned to face him. But his eyes were caught by what was behind the man. Jack could now see that a few feet behind Leader, stood the rest of his friends. "...What are you doing...?"

"If Leader thinks you're making a mistake, then something tells me you are, man," Mason chuckled, crossing his arms with a grin. Webb copied his actions.

"I can only assume this is because of what's been bothering you..." Gina said plainly, her eyes narrowing on Jack. The man noticed the faintest of smirks on her face. "...But if Leader has reasons to want to stop you, then you should know where my allegiance lies."

"She's right, you know," Jack's eyes hesitated towards Krystal, who to his surprise, copied his signature move with her arms crossed behind her back, flashing him a grin. "Or if you had told us what you were planning in the first place, then _maybe_ we would've sided with you instead."

"...You...can't..." Jack hesitated, unable to get the words out to his friends.

"We're divided because you've always been an idiot," Jack's eyebrow twitched, giving a quiet sigh as he looked at Trevor, who stood with his arms crossed and his body turned away from him, eyes closed. "Krystal's right. If you had told us your plan, then we would _all_ be in favor of helping right now. But, you had to be the idiot and lie to us, giving us a reason to question our trust in you..."

"...You would have, regardless...You never would have sided with me..." Jack replied slowly, turning his head away in shame.

"You really do underestimate your family, you jerk."

"...What...?" Jack felt a pain in his chest at the voice, part of him not wanting to look back at his friends to the source of the voice. But another part of him wanted to. Slowly turning his head, his eyes rested on the new figure taking their final steps to join the group, the blonde holding her hands behind her back with a beaming smile. "...Lex'...?"

"Leader may have brought us together to change the world, but it's not like that was the only reason. We all know that by now," Lexi's smile remained as she turned towards the rest of her friends, her smile becoming infectious to the group. Surprisingly, even Trevor and Gina. "We've all had our troubles in the past. I say that with confidence because...I had dug myself into a pretty deep hole. But Leader helped me out of it. And now today, I know I can stand beside him proudly, knowing that I'm here because of him. Not only that, but I'm standing here with all of you."

"Lexi..." Krystal started to feel tears forming in the corner of her eye.

"Come on, Jack...You're standing here with us, too. Because in a way, we're all the same, aren't we?" Lexi took a step towards the man, who only stared back in response. "I don't care if you and Leader are fighting right now. I don't even know why. But how many times have we fought and been fine about it the next day?"

"...This is nothing like that..." Jack replied quietly, the blonde smiling again as she held her arms out to him.

"Then I guess I'll have to try harder, huh?" Jack narrowed his eyes curiously at the blonde's words, noticing her next movement was much quicker. In an instant, Jack flinched as he felt the girl's arms around him, squeezing tightly.

"L...Lexi, let go..." he muttered, attempting to wiggle out of her grasp, which only made her tighten her grip. Jack looked towards the rest of his friends, noticing that everyone was smirking at the pair, except for Krystal, who looked more surprised with a hint of disgust. And to the man's chagrin, he noticed that Leader wore the biggest smirk of all. "I'm serious, Lex', let-"

"Nope," she replied calmly, tightening her grip even more. The man winced, feeling no strength to fight back against the girl. But in his mind, he wondered what the cause of it was. Was it that she was right? Was it because it was her? Or was...it because of...

"Okay, Lexi, that should be enough," Jack gave a quiet sigh of relief at Leader's words, noticing the girl's grip beginning to loosen. Leader moved closer to them as the blonde released the man, drawing her arms behind her back flashing an innocent smile, Leader giving an expectant look to Jack.

"What?" he asked, slightly glaring at the man as he tried to hide his embarrassment. To the others' amusement, he failed miserably at doing so.

"You know she's right, Jack," Jack was surprised at the sudden soft tone Leader was using. "Please...Pass on this chance. Just a little longer."

"...Leader..." Jack hesitated, his eyes drifting towards each of his friends, then back towards the man. He gave a quiet sigh. "...You know I can't..."

"...Huh?" Lexi blinked. Her expression slowly turned to confusion, staring at the man in disbelief. He _still_ said no?

"Jack...You are certain about what you're choosing, correct? If you don't adhere to Leader's request-" Jack raised his hand with a weak smile, stopping the silver-haired girl's words.

"Then each of you will be against me, because you all choose Leader over me. I know...That's exactly what I've been wanting this whole time, ever since you guys started asking about the truth," Jack told them, confusing them further. "I've been telling you that I'm the one you should hate, and not Leader. He never wanted to, but I made him lie to you guys, so all the blame goes on me."

"And here we are, siding with Leader...against you..." Trevor said slowly, Jack giving a nod.

"It's about time, too. At least you figured it out before this all came to an end, huh?" he chuckled, the others only looking at him in concern.

 _ **"Enough!"**_ everyone on Spear Pillar flinched, their attention drawn back to Arceus, whose foot was embedded in a third hole in the ground. _**"Your insolence suggest that you wish to make a mockery of me!"**_

"I assure you, Arceus, that is not the case. I apologize," Jack turned away from the group, surprising them as he started to walk towards the heavenly figure. "Just a minor distraction. Nothing more."

"What?!" Krystal asked in shock. "A _distraction_? You can't be serious!"

"...Like I said, I can't change my mind on this," Jack turned back to look at Leader. "You can try to stop me, but something tells me even Zekrom would have troubles facing against Arceus."

"...Then let's try telling Arceus the truth first. The _real_ truth," Jack gave the man a confused look as he turned away from him, and didn't face the rest of his friends, but the other group on the mountaintop. He walked until he was halfway between the groups, stopping.

"W...What is it, Ash?" May asked carefully, getting a hopeful feeling as his eyes hovered over everyone in their group. Then it stopped on one figure in particular, but not one they had expected.

"Mesprit," everyone looked in confusion to the small figure, who had taken position on Dawn's head once again, the pokemon looking at Leader in confusion. "If I may, I'd like to ask a favor from you."

 _ **"...Sure!"**_ the group was surprised as the small figure floated off of Dawn's head, now hovering slightly above the man's shoulder with a smile.

"Wha- Mesprit?!" Dawn asked incredulously, the small figure giving a wave as if to reassure her, before following the man as he started back towards his own group. "What is Ash doing...?"

"You think one lake guardian can help you now...?" Jack asked, arching an eyebrow as he gave Leader an odd look. Leader turned towards Arceus.

"Mighty Arceus, I understand if you do not believe either of our words. But please, at least listen to Mesprit," Leader said in a respecting tone, lowering his head towards Arceus once more. The heavenly figure eyed him curiously, then looked towards the lake guardian curiously.

"Listen to Mesprit? Leader, what do you mean?" Krystal asked, giving a curious look to the lake guardian. As it quickly clicked in Trevor's mind, he looked towards Leader.

"Arceus will listen to Mesprit because it's a pokemon, not human...And because it's the being of emotions."

"Emotions?" Webb asked, then it clicked in his mind as well.

"Mighty Arceus..." Leader started, raising his head and turning his head towards Jack. He noticed Mesprit hovering slightly above his own shoulder beside his head, glancing to it and giving a brief nod. "Allow Mesprit to tell you what Jack is truly feeling. Why he desires your power."

"What? You can't be-"

 _ **"Mesprit..."**_ the small figure nodded at the god's voice, floating towards Jack and extending its two tails to either side of its body, the three gems on its body emitting a faint glow as it closed its eyes. Jack inwardly bit his lip, knowing what Leader was up to. His eyes glanced briefly to Arceus, then back to Leader.

"You know this alone won't be enough to stop it. You cannot chang-"

"Then I'll have Mesprit tell you my intentions. As well as everyone else here," Leader replied in a serious tone, Jack beginning to feel nervous. "I don't care if I sabotage my own image in Arceus' eyes. I will do whatever it takes to prove to Arceus that you can't be trusted, if I have to use the goodness of their hearts in wanting to stop me, the concern from Lexi and the others, the darkness in my own heart, I don't care. If all else fails, I will make sure Arceus trusts _no human_ on this mountain if it means there is a chance to stop you."

"...Think about what you're doing...Our future is right there, right in front of us, so _close_ and you want to make us fail _now_?" Jack snapped, his temper starting to get the better of him. Leader stared back silently in response, his serious demeanor not changing in the slightest.

"I already told you that future is not my first priority."

 _ **"Sadness..."**_ the two men were snapped out of it, their attentions brought back to the lake guardian, who circled around the entire group with a frown. _**"There is such sorrow here...such pain..."**_

"Hey, you weren't supposed to go in _our_ heads," Krystal said, crossing her arms with a slight glare to the moving figure. Trevor sighed quietly to himself.

"Emotions come from the heart, genius, not the head," he quipped, the icy-blunette's glare predictively moving to the smart-mouthed man. Leader and Jack ignored the two starting to argue, and instead watched Mesprit float past them and towards Arceus.

 _ **"Sorrow, you say...?"**_ Arceus asked, the small figure giving a nod.

 _ **"Each of them has suffered, greatly. Especially the one called Jack...and Leader,"**_ the small figure turned back to look at the two men in question. _**"The darkness in their hearts...they bear resentment, and anger towards the world. And their desire for power...for control...it is powered by greed."**_

"That still won't be enough..." Jack muttered, smirking to himself as he looked towards the heavenly figure.

 _ **"...Greed, you say...for power alone...?"**_ the lake guardian nodded.

 _ **"They have suffered so much...but one of their greatest pains hurts even me..."**_ Mesprit added, floating back down towards the men. This caught everyone's attention, all eyes on the small figure as it landed gently on Leader's head. _**"Especially you..."**_

"What are you talking about...?" Leader asked slowly, unsure as to what the legendary was getting at. Mesprit leaned forward off his head and looked down at him, meeting the man's cold and confused eyes with a frown.

 _ **"...A broken heart..."**_

...

... ...

... ... ...

"...The main concern was Jack's greed," Leader said, ending the few moments of silence as he cleared his throat and moved towards Arceus with the small pokemon on his head. Leader and Jack shared a common thought in questioning the small pokemon's motives.

"E-Even so," Jack cleared his throat as well, following after Leader. The pair also shared the hopes of moving the situation along past what Mesprit said, to each of their own hidden embarrassment. But alas, Mesprit's words had reached and grabbed the attention of everyone on the mountaintop. Especially two girls in particular. "Even if Mesprit tells the truth, you have no reason to trust him over me! I am the one who summoned you here, and I humbly ask that-"

 _ **"Are you ordering me on that fact alone?"**_ Jack stopped, swallowing his breath at the god's sharp words. _**"It may be true that you summoned me here, but that does not mean I am forced to comply with your humanly desires. Many humans have come here in the past, demanding for my power, but not one of them had left to tell the tale."**_

"...Uh...That doesn't sound good..." Max uttered nervously, the others sharing his concern at Arceus' words.

"D...Divine Arceus, I mean no disrespect in my request. I would never dare try to command you against your will, I merely ask-" Jack started as he lowered his head, but flinched as everyone heard the heavenly figure's foot pierce the ground once again.

 _ **"And I would never comply with a human driven by greed,"**_ Jack felt the corner of his mouth twitch, biting his lip at the god's words. _**"Human known as Jack, you are not fit to receive my power. But perhaps there is a way to prevent my descent from having been for naught,"**_ everyone's eyes watched curiously as Arceus's eyes fixated on Mesprit still atop Leader's head. _ **"Mesprit...Tell me. What exactly do these humans desire?"**_

"What...?" Leader began to feel concerned as he glanced up at Mesprit on his head, who only looked back at Arceus nervously. The small figure looked down at Leader, who saw a glimmer of worry in the small pokemon's eyes as it hesitated. "Mesprit, please...Just don't-"

 _ **"The truth, my child!"**_ Arceus bellowed, Mesprit flinching slightly as it looked back up towards the heavenly figure. Leader's concern grew more intense as the small psychic-type hesitated in silence.

 _ **"...He only wishes for redemption..."**_ Mesprit started, its eyes drifting down towards Leader's own again. _**"...To recover from the humiliation he once faced...especially from the one he was closest to..."**_

"...Redemption...?" Krystal asked slowly, her eyes narrowing on the man. "...That's...all he wanted...?"

"...That's right, Arceus. All we've wanted was to be recognized - to be _accepted_ by everyone, even those who have ridiculed us in the past. I beg of you-" Leader started as he lowered his head, but his voice got stuck in his throat at the god's next words.

 _ **"And what of the other one?"**_

"...What...?" Leader slowly looked up back towards the god. "...I...Arceus, that is the intention of both of us. I don't-"

 _ **"That is your own intentions, human, but not Jack's. You think I can't tell when you're trying to keep something from me, Mesprit?"**_ Arceus asked in a terse tone, the small pokemon flinching. Leader glanced up, feeling the small figure float off his head. It looked down towards Leader again, but this time expressed a much more sad expression, before floating towards Arceus.

"Mesprit...please..." Leader asked, the small pokemon sensing the sincerity and desperation coming from his heart as it moved away from him.

 _ **"The truth, my child!"**_ Arceus bellowed once more, Mesprit clenching its eyes shut as stopped by Arceus' head. The small pokemon slowly opened its eyes again, looking back towards Jack, waiting in silence for a few more moments. Then it lowered its head.

 _ **"...Extinction..."**_

Moments passed in silence. Time seemed almost as if to freeze at that moment, as if Dialga itself had stopped everything in place, but the soft whistle of the breeze in the sky proved that theory wrong. Leader and Jack stared in concern at the small figure who floated in the air by Arceus' head, not having heard anything. And thankful for each of them, without their knowledge of it, since neither of them had heard Mesprit's response to Arceus, then neither had anyone else atop the mountain. Arceus' eyes suddenly moved back to Jack and Leader, then closed.

 _ **"...Very well, then..."**_ the two men's concerns were now on the heavenly figure, who remained still with its eyes closed as moments passed by. Leader's hand subconsciously drifted to his belt, his fingers beginning to grip on a specific purple sphere. Then Arceus' eyes snapped open, everyone seeing something they feared to see from the god. Anger.

 _ **"...Especially in summoning me, such destructive desires I cannot allow to exist!"**_

"...Eh...?"

"What...did it just say...?" Krystal could barely manage to utter those few words, everyone's voices caught in their throats. Only moments ago did Arceus speak the phrase, time seeming to freeze on the mountaintop once again, but that was easily proven false as the two dragons behind the heavenly figure each stomped a foot onto the ground. Everyone snapped out of their daze and looked in shock to the dragons, except for Leader and Jack, who remained focused on Arceus.

"This...doesn't look good..." Gary uttered nervously, noticing the deities of time and space avert their focus towards Jack. "Don't tell me...when it says it won't allow it to exist...!"

"You can't be serious," the heavenly figure felt frustrated at the ignorant response, its eyes focusing on Leader. "Everyone has dark desires within them! That's part of being human! What matters is how we act on them, and I can tell you-!"

 _ **"That he sought my power to make those desires a reality,"**_ Leader bit his tongue, trying to maintain his composure. _**"If a human lives with such darkness in his heart, nothing good can come of that. And having the ignorance to summon me to help him with realizing such darkness is something I cannot ignore."**_

"...Guess you have a point..." Leader's eyes moved to Jack in surprise, noticing the calm expression on his face as he put his hands in his pockets, eyes closed. "...It would be pretty stupid to just let me walk away at this point. But, it's not like I'm just gonna stand here and wait for it to happen. If that were my fate, I would've done it a long time ago."

"Jack, don't...!" Leader watched as the man stepped towards Arceus again.

 _ **"You would be so ignorant as to try and fight me to spare your life?"**_ the figure asked, Jack stopping again with a smirk.

"I'd rather die in a fight with god than die silently."

 _ **"...Then so be it!"**_ everyone's eyes widened in horror as Arceus didn't move, but the two dragons behind it did, coming around the heavenly figure and looking down at the man. _**"I suppose it does take some sense of courage to face me so boldly...I suppose I will make it quick for you."**_

"We'll see about that!" Jack smirked again, watching as the gems on the two deities began to glow, Palkia drawing back its arm and Dialga rearing back its head. Jack quickly moved his hand to his belt, unclipping a sphere and tossing it straight up, the beam of light bursting down on the ground in front of him and taking form of a blue dragon with sharp-edged red wings.

 _ **"You cannot escape my judgement now, human!"**_

"Salamence, Flamethrower!"

"Dragonbreath!"

Jack's eyes shifted slightly to a beam of light aim in the air to the side of his own dragon, quickly taking form of a much larger black dragon whose size countered the Sinnoh dragons'. In the next moment, the combination of Flamethrower and Dragonbreath collided with Spacial Rend and Roar of Time, the shockwave sending Max and Dawn off their feet, while the rest of the humans somehow managed to hold their ground. Leader and Jack gritted their teeth, knowing fully well that Salamence wouldn't last long against the deities of time and space, even with Zekrom's help. Leader even questioned how long Zekrom would last against not just the two dragons, but then the matter of Arceus as well...

"Ice Beam!"

The two men were confused to see a powerful beam of ice come from behind them, joining their own attacks against the Sinnoh dragons, managing to overpower them. Dialga and Palkia were surprised to see their signature moves overpowered, bracing themselves as they had no time to avoid the oncoming attacks, exploding on contact. Not only did Jack and Leader turn around to see the source of the attack, but so did everyone else on the mountain. And for those who didn't know about it earlier, were they ever shocked now.

"Good job, Kyurem!" May beamed, having separated from the rest of her group and standing a short distance behind Jack and Leader, her appreciation being dedicated towards the great dragon of ice standing beside her. The moment its eyes met with Zekrom, the black dragon growled in a low tone as it recognized its former opponent from history long since passed.

"What the hell...?" Leader's eyes glanced back to Jack as he muttered the question to himself, breaking into a smirk as he looked back towards May, who flashed him a thumbs-up and a smile.

"Did you think I would just stand by and not help?" she asked, Leader feeling something warm inside of him that he had not felt in a long time.

 _ **"You dare defy ME?!"**_

"Zekrom, back!"

"Salamence, you too!" the two dragons took into the air and burst out towards the sides, narrowly avoiding Dialga and Palkia's Dragon Pulses as they exploded where they had once stood. Jack and Leader managed to hurry away before the attacks had made contact, having made enough distance for safety as they slowed their running pace to a stop by May. The brunette only beamed at Leader, who couldn't resist returning a smile as he looked back towards the trio of creation, Zekrom and Salamence having flown behind them and floating in the air by their trainers, just as Kyurem stood by May. "I'll be honest, today was already surprising enough...but now this? Seriously, what else are people hiding here?"

"We can laugh about that later, because our focus right now is them," Leader said, his eyes fixated on the two deities. He glanced over to May. "Have you and Kyurem fought together before?"

"...Ah...No, this is the first time," she said, feeling slightly embarrassed as she glanced to the dragon. Leader smirked.

"Just maintain confidence. You've always been good at that, so it shouldn't be a problem for you," May smiled at the man's words, her eyes meeting his.

"I learned from the best," Leader almost felt disappointed in himself for getting such a warm feeling in his chest at not only the brunette's words, but also her image. Her eyes displayed such determination, the grin on her lips clearly showing that any doubt before this moment had been wiped away, Leader almost felt...reminiscent. His mind flashed images of the brunette, but much younger, and yet still holding that same level of confidence. He had been gone so long...Changed so much...But how had she managed to stay the same?

"Hey, how about we save the loving moments for later, too?" there it was. Leader gave his usual quiet sigh, his eyes turning back to Jack with no amusement, seeing the man smirking with his arms crossed behind his head. "Oh, I'm sorry, were you in the middle of something?"

"Just focus on Dialga. May, I want you to help Jack," Leader spoke, his eyes settling on the opponent he chose for himself. "I'll take Palkia."

"But what about Arceus?" May asked, feeling concerned. Leader glanced briefly at the heavenly figure.

"...Something tells me he won't interfere unless he's forced to," the man said calmly, exchanging a glance with Jack, each giving a nod.

"Then let's give him a reason to!" and in a moment of perfect synchronicity, the three dragons broke apart, Zekrom heading out towards the right while Salamence and Kyurem flew to the left, the Sinnoh dragons watching them carefully. "Salamence, Flamethrower!"

 **END**

 **Hope you enjoy the first chapter to the continuation of the** _ **Liberated Champions**_ **series, which will be the final installment and conclusion!**

 **And for the final time, in case anyone likes keeping track of characters' ages:**

 **Leader - 24**  
 **Jack - 24**  
 **Trevor - 23**  
 **Lexi - 23**  
 **Mason - 25**  
 **Webb - 25**  
 **Gina - 22**  
 **Krystal - 21**

 **May - 23**  
 **Max - 19**  
 **Brock - 26**  
 **Misty - 25**  
 **Gary - 24**  
 **Dawn - 22**


	2. Chapter 2

**For A Future Not His Own**

 **CHAPTER 2**

"Dragonbreath!" the smaller blue dragon fired the stream of flames towards Dialga, who opened its mouth and began charging a silver sphere in its mouth. At the same time, Zekrom released another stream resembling green flames towards the ruler of space, who formed a pink sphere between its palms before throwing it. As it collided with the flames, it exploded, releasing a cloud of smoke between the two dragons, who remained aware. The moment Dialga fired the beam of silver energy, it collided with the oncoming flames, fighting for dominance.

"Dragon Pulse!" Dialga's eyes shifted to the side to notice Kyurem in the air beside it, launching a blue sphere of energy towards it.

"You too, Salamence!" Dialga's eyes shifted back towards Jack's pokemon, who had flown to its opposite side and copied its partner's attack. The deity of time pushed itself off the ground, quickly taking into the air as the attacks collided with each other, the dragon giving a low growl. Dialga turned its attention towards its more daunting opponent first.

"Kyurem, dodge!" the ice-type quickly moved out of the way of the oncoming Flash Cannon, noticing Dialga had begun charging towards it with a blue sphere in its mouth. "Glaciate!" as the steel/dragon-type fired its Aura Sphere, Kyurem opened a frigid gust of wind to counter it, freezing the sphere and shattering it mid-air as well as starting a thin layer of ice across the metal plates on Dialga's body.

"May, have Kyurem fly straight up as soon as Dialga attacks next, and be ready to hit it hard," Jack whispered, the brunette giving a curious glance before giving a nod. "Salamence, wind up!" the deity of time watched carefully in the side of its eyes as it noticed the smaller blue dragon circle around it, going back around its opponent. Regardless of that, Dialga maintained its focus on the more intimidating adversary, forming another blue sphere in its mouth which May took notice of.

"Straight up!"

"Dragon Rush!" Dialga was confused to notice its target move vertically in the air, the dragon adjusting its aim before realizing what it was doing. Across from it in the air in the direction where Kyurem once was, was now Salamence, a burning blue aura surrounding it as it charged straight towards the deity. Dialga had no time to react in accordance to Salamence's speed, unable to dodge before it crashed straight into its chest, exploding and forcing it back in the air. The dragon gave an angry roar as it watched the smaller dragon circle around, keeping its eyes on it. "Flamethrower!" the stream of flames collided with another beam of metallic energy, before Dialga's eyes glanced up towards Kyurem. "Stone Edge!" Dialga growled as it felt several sharp stones pierce into its legs, bouncing off the metal plates on its body.

"Kyurem, spin with Ice Beam!" the legendary dragon gave no question to the order of the human it had decided to follow, unable to resist a curious wonder of the purpose behind spinning. Nonetheless, it did as it was told, firing the attack straight down towards Dialga. The deity noticed this, moving away before noticing a beam of ice shooting in front of it. Then beside it. The dragon looked up to see the single beam of ice had branched off into several, thanks to the momentum of Kyurem's movements, casting what seemed to be a web of ice downward on the ruler of time. It roared angrily, feeling a beam strike its back as it moved to avoid it, before being struck by another.

"Dragon Claw!" the smaller blue dragon's claws extended in a draconic glowing energy, charging through the air towards its opponent as it didn't move. At the last moment before contact, Dialga shifted to the side, surprising Salamence as it barely managed to bring its claws to the side to block the deity's shining claws, forcing it back in the air with great force before seeing it burst up towards Kyurem. May felt her body tense up as she saw the dragon move with much greater speed than before, her voice getting caught in her throat as she saw the dragon only a moment from attacking her own.

"Block it!"

May's eyes widened as she saw the dragon of thunder suddenly speed towards Kyurem, bringing its glowing claws out against Dialga's. Colliding, the two dragons growled at each other angrily as they fought to overpower the other, before Zekrom gave a roar as it swung its open arm out and struck Dialga's side. Dialga roared angrily as it shifted to the side to break the contact between them, Zekrom keeping itself between its opponent and its current ally. May glanced over to Leader, who she could notice had given a brief nod to her, before his focus returned to the battle at hand.

"Salamence, block Palkia!" Leader and May watched in surprise as Salamence came from the side, releasing a stream of flames towards Zekrom. But shooting past it, the flames instead made contact with a blue sphere that was previously heading towards the electric-type, exploding it before it had any effect. Salamence flew closer to its dragon allies in the air, flashing a smirk as its fangs poked out from its lower lip, the three returning their attention to the Sinnoh dragons on either side of them, each giving an angry roar of being ignored.

* * *

"...uh...Again...Should we interrupt...?"

"Dawn, no offense, but given what we're all watching-"

"Alright, I get it, terrible idea..." the blunette sighed, giving a worried look towards her brunette friend participating in the legendary battle. "Do you think they can handle them...?"

"With Dialga and Palkia against Zekrom and Kyurem, it should be at least an even fight. And with Salamence helping, they might have a better chance of winning..." Gary trailed off, crossing his arms as the worry in his eyes focused on the bystanding god pokemon, who began looking impatient. "But if Arceus gets involved...Even if we _all_ help, I'm not so sure..."

"We can take 'em!" everyone sweat-dropped at Max's outburst, everyone giving a sigh at the boy's confidence. "If all of us help out, we can do this! And it'll be even easier if we can have the lake guardians' help!"

"...I'm not so sure we can rely on that at the moment. We are facing Arceus itself, Max, I'm not sure if the lake guardians would dare go against it..." Brock stated, the boy's energy suddenly drooping. "It's kind of weird to say...but right now, we have to hope that Ash can handle this. May and Kyurem haven't been together long or ever battled together, so we have to rely on Ash's bond with Zekrom to power through this."

 _ **"Enough of this impertinence!"**_ the group flinched at Arceus' outburst, stomping its foot into the ground. The battle in the air paused, each of the dragons looking over towards the heavenly figure with curious eyes. Arceus closed its eyes, lowering its head as the golden wheel around its abdomen began to glow. From each of the four points around the wheel extended a beam of white light, almost resembling arms as they each lowered towards the ground. The arms of energy looked back around on the end, each forming a circle facing away from Arceus and towards the rest of the inhabitants of the area. As if each of the humans weren't surprised enough with the appearances of the creation trio, things had just appeared to have taken a turn for the worse.

From the left-most portal stepped out a tall humanoid figure, slow in movement, no focus in any of its six eyes that were open. The collection of small black dots down the middle of its body flashed in a seemingly random pattern.

From the next portal slid out a serpent-like figure, the front side of most of its body colored green and the backside colored black. From its back protruded five strange black extensions, each spotted with two green scales. No one was able to determine the pokemon's attitude, given that its face seemingly had no eyes, only a small cluster of four green scales on either side of its face to resemble eyes. Looking at its entire body, it almost resembled a hand.

The next portal released an airborne creature, the ominous aura around it seemingly draining the life of the area. The underside of its body, wings and tails were colored red while the rest of its body was as dark as the night, each of its wings and the end of its tail resembling claws. Its body resembled the letter Y.

The right-most and final portal changed itself before the figure emerged from it. The edge around the portal had become a strange shade of purple and seemed to ripple like small waves, the figure emerging as a purple silhouette in a snake-like shape. But as it neared the ground in front of the portal, its shape began to change, instead landing on the ground on six legs, its glowing red eyes striking fear into some of those on the mountaintop as it stretched out its shadowy wings to either side, emitting a high-pitch screech which could send a strange chill down your spine.

"...Oh..."

"...Crap..."

"This...can't be real..." May uttered in horror. But despite her wholeheartedly wishing she was imagining things, despite how afraid she was...this was real. Leader and Jack swallowed their breaths, their eyes slowly going over the newly-arrived legendary figures.

"...Heh...I gotta be honest, Leader...Chances of getting through this are looking real slim now..."

"Don't say that...We can manage."

"You can't be serious...There is _no_ way you actually believe we can get through all of them."

"You insult me, Jack, I thought we were closer than that."

"...Jeez...You're a moron."

"Guess that explains how we're related, huh?"

"...True that..." Jack chuckled, looking up towards his blue dragon in the air above them, facing against the line of four legendaries, plus Dialga and Palkia who had joined on the ends. Jack closed his eyes with a quiet sigh. "...Forget it. You and the others get out of here."

"You made two mistakes with that choice. One, if we leave you here alone then there's _zero_ chan-"

"You think I'm not mentally prepared for that by now?"

"...Then two, you know I would never listen to that kind of request," Jack sighed again, Leader not taking his eyes off of him. Beside Leader stood May, the girl looking at her old friend with a gentle smile.

"I knew the old Ash was still in there..." she said quietly, unaware that she had spoken loud enough for Leader to hear. The man exhaled slowly, unaware that the corner of his mouth had begun to curl into a smile. "So, Ash? What's the plan here?"

"...For once, I can't tell you," the man chuckled in response, surprising the brunette. He turned to face her, now fully embracing the smile on his face as he looked into her eyes. "...All I _can_ say...I'm sorry for the past. Ever since I beat Alder, I've been nothing but rude to you, and why? Because I was terrified...ashamed..."

"Ash..." the brunette moved towards him, raising her hand slowly as she expected him to move away. Surprisingly, her palm managed to reach his cheek, but the man did look away from her.

"...You should hate me for what I did...For how I reacted to..." the man's voice stopped, feeling the girl's arms embrace him.

"...You don't have to apologize...And you know I can't hate you..." the brunette pulled her head back, her hands resting on the back of his neck as she looked into his eyes, swearing that she could almost see the faintest of something...emotional. "You know there are some things that are stronger than hate."

"...To think I have to be the responsible one right now..." the pair felt slight irritation in their minds, resisting the urge to shoot glares that could kill to the man who sighed the words beside them. "Okay, you guys still love each other, hurray and all that, but really? You _just_ said that we could manage to get past this, and now you're talking like these are your final words."

"Shut it, Jack," Leader snapped, his eyes drawn back towards the opposing legendaries. May smiled, watching the man in amusement but also feeling partly disappointed that he broke apart from their hug, facing their opponents. "...Like I said, I can't tell you what the plan is right now...But I can tell you one thing."

"If we're going down, we'll go down trying," the two men glanced over to May, surprised at the girl's words as she smiled back innocently. Leader broke into another smile himself, giving a nod. "Then let's do this."

"Damn right!" Jack and May were almost surprised to hear Leader exclaim the phrase, but at the same time, neither of them expected any different. They knew Leader. They knew Ash.

 _ **"I will not tolerate this ignorance any longer! My children, those humans are not to leave without learning their place!"**_ Arceus bellowed, each of the legendaries under its command giving a roar in obedience.

"Then how about _you_ take a lesson for once?! Salamence, Hyper Beam!" the blue dragon roared, firing a powerful beam of energy towards the army opposing them. The ghost/dragon-type quickly hovered its body in front of it, receiving the attack to no effect. "Dragon Rush!" the smaller dragon charged towards it with the same blue aura from earlier, its opponent moving to the side to reveal the tall white humanoid, its fist drawn back with a glowing light around it. It thrust the fist forward, colliding with Salamence.

"Zekrom, catch Salamence!" Leader shouted, the electric-type quickly bursting forward behind its ally, who had been forced back barely a moment after the man had given his command. Salamence collided into Zekrom's chest, regaining its composure and shaking its head, giving a nod to the Unova dragon before flying towards the end of the lineup.

"Kyurem, Ice Beam in front of them!" the dragon fired the beam of ice, which struck along the ground in front of the legendaries, quickly rising up and forming a barrier of ice in front of them. Leader's hand moved to his belt, taking grip of another sphere with a smirk as he clicked the button.

"Let's go, big guy!" Leader shouted, tossing the sphere into the air. May's eyes drifted to the sphere curiously, watching the beam of light come out, but also noticing the wall of ice shattering as a menacing-looking bird figure came flying towards them with a strange black sphere of energy forming in its mouth. "Overheat!" May's eyes widened in surprise as the beam of light quickly took form of a figure she recognized, watching the Kanto starter release a very powerful searing flame towards Yveltal, surprising the brunette even more as it easily broke through the legendary's attack and exploded on contact with it. "Charizard, I need you to handle Yveltal! I'm counting on you!" the fire-type roared back in response, releasing another searing flame towards its opponent, before flying into the sky to separate them and the rest of the battle, quickly followed by Yveltal.

"Heh, that's pretty cocky, even for you, Leader," Jack remarked, smirking as he noticed the fire-type distancing itself. Leader smirked to himself.

"Well, maybe being Leader right now isn't enough to keep us alive..." the man's attention was drawn back to Zekrom, who was currently clashing claws with the deity of space. "Zekrom, Dragonbreath!"

"Salamence, watch Dialga!" Jack shouted, the smaller blue dragon roaring as it saw the deity of time charging a Flash Cannon with Zekrom in its sights. As Zekrom broke off its own clash with Palkia with Dragonbreath, Salamence quickly shot a stream of flames at the steel/dragon-type, angering it as the smaller dragon flew by it quickly. Dialga quickly took chase after it, Palkia rearing back its arm as it began to glow pink.

"Ice Beam!" Palkia was surprised to feel a beam of ice strike its arm, a block of ice forming around it and cancelling its energy. The deity roared angrily at the ice-type, who shifted its attention to a different target. The space deity quickly shattered the ice on its arm, its focus still on Kyurem.

"Zekrom-!" Leader started, noticing Palkia's attention on Kyurem and wanting to defend it, but he watched as Giratina rammed its body into Zekrom, pulling it upward into the air. Leader's eyes widened as it saw the water/dragon-type form a blue sphere between its palms, targeting the ice-type.

"Time to shine, Gyarados!"

Palkia stopped its advance, growling in anger as it felt an explosion on its back. Turning around, it noticed a small (compared to itself) water serpent, giving an angry roar towards it, a human redhead standing beside it with a grin as she pumped a fist in the air.

"Misty?!" May gasped, taking notice of the redhead. Misty 's grin grew, moving her finger to the accessory in her hair, which contained a glowing gem.

"Let's show 'em how strong water can be!" she called out, her serpent giving a roar in agreement as its body began to glow. Its body shape altering slightly, it lost the flexibility of its previous form, but now began to float in the air with a single long whisker extending from each side of its face, two large fins extending out from its back as if to look like wings.

"Mega gyarados...not bad..." Leader smirked, noticing the serpent began flying towards the deity of space.

"Hydro Pump!" the water-type released a powerful torrent of water at the space deity, which seemed to only irritate it as it swiped its claw through the water, cutting it off. The dragon roared again as it threw a blue sphere towards it, who dodged as it continued flying closer in a serpentine pattern through the air.

"Hyper Beam!" the water-type charged a powerful beam of energy in its mouth, Palkia taking good notice of its opponent's movements. Just as mega gyarados had veered to the right slightly, Palkia burst forward to the left, watching its opponent turn its body back towards it.

"Dodge!" the water-type attempted to turn away, but Palkia saw it coming, extending its arm out and grabbing the serpent, throwing it back and following up with its own Hyper Beam. "Gyarados!"

"Protect."

The mega gyarados was surprised as it didn't feel an attack hit it, but instead saw a protective blue sphere form around it. It looked over back towards the legendary attacking it, noticing that inside of the sphere was also a mudfish, its arms held out to either side maintaining the barrier that was holding back the Hyper Beam. Misty's eyes widened. "Wha...A swampert?"

"I can't have you giving water-types a bad rep," Misty looked over to the source of the voice, noticing that a man from the other group had separated from them and come a little closer, running a hand through his blue hair as he focused his attention on Palkia.

"Then clearly you have no idea who you're talking to!" Misty called back with a grin, returning her attention to the space deity. "Hyper Beam again!"

"Mud Bomb for cover!" the mudfish fired three blobs of dirt from its mouth into the air towards Palkia, exploding in the air around it and scattering a cloud of dust to impair its vision. Palkia roared, maintaining its composure as it prepared from the attack directly ahead of it, but instead received it from its side. It quickly moved out of the smoke, noticing that the serpent was no longer in front but to its side.

"Wait, that guy's _helping_?" Max asked in surprise, his eyes showing slight frustration with Trevor's participation.

"They're not the enemy right now, Max...They just want to get Ash and Jack out of here," Brock told him, giving a nod as he grabbed a pokeball from his belt.

"This is one crazy day, fighting so many legendaries..." Gary chuckled, taking a pokeball of his own. Max gave a quiet sigh, feeling nervous as he also grabbed one of his own, the three men tossing them into the air.

"Zekrom, cover Salamence!"

"You too, Kyurem!" the smaller blue dragon glanced back as it noticed Dialga chasing after it in the air, firing a beam of silver energy towards it. Just as salamence readied to dodge, it saw a beam of ice stop the attack, also noticing Zekrom coming down beside it and grabbing Giratina's sides, stopping it from getting closer. Salamence quickly took higher into the air, noticing a powerful-looking stream of flames shoot through the clouds not far from it before turning its attention back towards the army on the ground.

"Dragon Rush on Regigigas!" the dragon drew its wings close to its body, letting gravity work its magic as the small dragon began increasing speed back towards the ground, its body heading straight for the slow-moving humanoid. The normal-type took notice, extending both arms into the air, a Hyper Beam beginning to form in front of its palms.

"Clanging Scales!"

"Solarbeam!"

The normal-type felt the energy cut out from its palms, a terrible wave of sound emitting past its body, feeling almost as if it were going through it. The normal-type turned to face its new opponent, but was surprised with a beam of sunlight striking it in the chest, its body taking a slow fall to the ground. Salamence roared, igniting the blue aura around its body as it crashed down into the fallen legendary, exploding on contact and quickly taking flight away. Glancing back towards the ground, it noticed familiar allies in the shape of a dragon covered in scales and green dinosaur-like figure with flower petals around its neck, facing against the normal-type.

"I can handle him, you take Zygarde," Mason smirked, Webb giving a nod as he called for his meganium to change opponents. "Kommo-o, Focus Blast!"

"Meganium, Petal Dance!" the ground-type legendary lowered its head, bracing itself to receive the whirlwind of flower petals, then raised its head again and slammed its tail against the ground, releasing a wave of crumbling earth towards the grass-type.

"Grab Meganium!" Webb smirked as he recognized the voice, watching the red and white eagle gently grab his meganium's body in its claws, taking into the air and avoiding the attack. Webb glanced over to Lexi, giving her a nod as she grinned back. "Alright, Braviary! Air Slash!"

"Steelix, help out Kommo-o!" the scaled dragon watched as Regigigas's punch was blocked by the tail of the steel snake, the steel-type wrapping around its arm to stop its movements.

"Blastoise, Rapid Spin on its legs!" the Kanto turtle drew its limbs back into its shell, spinning at a high speed as it threw itself towards the normal-type's legs, pushing them back and knocking the tall figure down again. Steelix and Blastoise both withdrew from the legendary, flashing a grin to the dragon they had joined forces with.

"...Well, gotta say I didn't expect us joining up..." Jack muttered, Leader giving a smirk at the man's words as the pair glances around to see most of the others joining the fight.

"That's true, but we can't afford to be distracted here..." Leader responded, his eyes taking focus on a legendary not currently engaged in fighting. However, unbeknownst to Leader, he was currently being watched very closely. And the figure wasn't even in sight. As Giratina reverted to its original form, it circled closely around the bubble floating in the Distortion World which showed the man standing on Spear Pillar, the dragon emitting a screech as it used its power to open another portal in the air, connecting to the other world a short distance behind Leader. Leader didn't notice the portal as the dragon prepared a purple sphere in its mouth. But someone did.

"Protect Leader!"

The man watched in surprise as a beam of light shot past his head, taking form behind him. He glanced over his shoulder to watch the familiar figure hold its arms out, casting a barrier around them as Giratina came through its portal, launching the Shadow Ball, exploding on contact with the barrier. May and the rest of her friends' eyes widened at the sight of the figure standing by Leader, its round steel body easily recognized by everyone. Especially with the flashing pattern of dots on its face that was similar to Regigigas'. Leader's eyes moved towards Gina, who began walking towards himself, with Krystal following close beside her.

"Sharp as ever, Gina. I appreciate it," Leader remarked, the silver-haired girl giving a simple nod as her icy-blunette friend flashed a smile, pulling a pokeball from her belt which Leader eyed curiously.

"Probably about time we really get serious, huh? She _has_ been cooped up for a while," she said, each of her friends taking notice of the sphere in her hand and sharing a similar grin. Each of them knew exactly what was about to go down.

"Then by all means, Krystal, Gina..." Leader gave a quick glance to both girls, sharing a nod. "Have fun."

"You heard him, big girl! Let's have some fun!" Krystal called out, tossing the sphere into the air.

"Leader, watch Dialga!" Jack said quickly, the man noticing that the deity of time had changed its attention to the pair of men on the ground. Leader's eyes shifted towards it.

"Registeel, Lock-On," the steel golem standing by Leader raised its arms into the air, a strange pulse coming off its palms and moving through the air, landing on Dialga's chest and leaving a small target on it.

"Hurricane!" Krystal shouted, the light from the sphere taking form as Krystal's 'big girl'. As if the surprise on May and her friends' minds from Gina's legendary companion weren't enough, the next moment only added on to that to exceed the limits of their comprehension. Dialga's eyes widened as the figure flapped its wings, a sparkling light frost emitting from its wings as it picked up a powerful wind current around it, throwing the deity of time off its chosen course and through the air violently.

"Zap Cannon," Gina smirked, her steel-type forming a sphere of electricity between its palms before firing it into the air. The sphere went in no direction in particular at first, then quickly changed course, heading straight for the dragon of time. Dialga forced itself out of the Hurricane and moved to dodge, but the attack continued to follow it. Max, Gary and Brock's eyes remained wide in shock at the new ally in the air.

"How many..."

"...legendaries..."

"...do they have...?"

"That's it, girl! Now Ice Beam on Giratina's portal!" Krystal called out, the frosty bird giving a sharp screech as it flew away from Dialga, firing a beam of ice towards the portal on the ground where Giratina had retreated to. As the attack passed through the portal, it closed, another one opening behind Regigigas as the humanoid got back to its feet, Leader watching it closely.

"Zekrom, Dragonbreath!" _"How long_ can _we last here...? Is it really worth the time to fight...?"_ Leader wondered to himself in thought, his eyes fixated on Giratina. Then his eyes drifted down towards the portal closing behind its feet. "...Alright, guys, listen up! We got a plan!"

"About time - Meganium, Solarbeam! - What's the play, Leader?" Webb asked, his grass-type firing another beam of solar energy.

"We run."

"...I'm sorry, what?" Mason asked, surprised. But looking at Leader's face, he was surprised to see no sign of hesitation. "...You're serious? We just _run_ from them? All of them?"

"To be more precise...We run _with_ one of them," Leader replied, his eyes still fixated at Giratina. "Krystal, Gina, I might need your help to keep Giratina's attention."

"Like you need to ask," Gina said calmly, Registeel's fingers on each hand curling into fists.

"Leave it to me, Leader! Articuno, Blizzard!" the frost bird gave another screech, the frost emitting from its wings intensifying in pressure as the bird flapped its wings, blowing a worse-than-frigid gust towards Regigigas and Giratina. The normal-type was hit with the wind first, ice quickly forming in chunks across its body, limiting its movements. As the wind moved past it and hit Giratina, the dragon gave a screech in anger as it took into the air, heading towards the airborne ice-type. "Ice Beam!"

"Flash Cannon," Registeel fired the beam of metallic energy from between its palms slightly off-target from the dragon, the bird firing its attack directly at the dragon. Giratina veered to the side to avoid Articuno's attack, but unwillingly moved itself into the line of the steel-type's fire, the attack exploding on contact. Giratina screeched in anger again, heading straight down towards the ground.

"Guys, let's go!" Leader shouted, his eyes on the ghost-type and following its line of sight, making it his destination as he started into a sprint.

"Trevor! Lexi! Let's go!" Mason shouted, the two a short distance away in their own battles giving a nod before hurrying to join the rest of the group. Leader glanced over his shoulder, feeling a slight clenching sensation in his chest as his eyes caught on one figure. His feet planted into the ground firmly, stopping himself without him even meaning to. "Leader? What are you-?"

"Get going, I'll meet you there."

"But Leader-"

"Go!" he shouted, Mason hesitating before continuing towards the ghost-type descending. Leader hurried back to where he had started in his run, taking a few steps to the side towards the figure who had been closest to him. The figure who made him turn back.

"...May, we can't stay here-" he said, reaching his hand out to the brunette. But he was surprised to see her move out of his reach. His expression turning to confusion, he noticed the brunette smile to him, shaking her head slightly.

"No, _you_ can't stay here. But you will need someone to keep the rest of the legendaries occupied," she told him, the man's eyes widening at her words. She moved her palm to his cheek, looking into his eyes. "You and Jack have to go. We'll handle this."

"May, you know that Arceus will stop at _nothing-_ " the man stopped as the brunette placed a finger on his lips, her smile growing in warmth.

"Ash Ketchum, it took me _years_ to find you again. Do you really think I'll let this stop me after I only _just_ got you back?" she asked, giving a weak laugh. Leader couldn't resist joining in, chuckling as the brunette pulled him into a hug. She leaned forward and pecked her lips against his cheek, flashing another smile before pulling back from the man. He smiled, feeling something in his chest that he thought he had long since forgotten, as well as having a thought he never thought he would.

 _"...I can't believe I missed that..."_ he shook his head to himself as he turned away from the brunette, hurrying back towards his previous destination. Looking ahead, he noticed the rest of his group had come together, two girls in particular waving their arms towards him as if to make him go faster. His eyes drifted up, noticing that the ghost-type saw the group below him, changing his course.

"Articuno!" Giratina was surprised to see a beam of ice shoot across its path in the air, glaring angrily to the side as the ice-type bird flew past him, giving a screech as it circled back around towards it. The ghost glanced downward to the humans below it.

"Zekrom, grab it!" Leader shouted, the ghost-type surprised again as it felt a pair of claws grab either side of its body from behind. Hearing its captor give a roar behind its head as it pushed it straight down towards the ground, which would surely be a painful impact. Unless Giratina were to do exactly what they wanted. Leader felt a sense of relief, knowing that Giratina would certainly choose to open a portal instead of deliberately take the fall. But in the same moment, the muscles in Leader's legs tensed up, the man coming to a quick stop as he noticed something. Looking over the group of his friends ahead...he noticed one was missing.

"Salamence, Hyper Beam!"

"Jack!" Leader called out, his head turning back to his former partner, who remained where he stood prior to the plan still otherwise engaged in battle. "Jack, hurry up! We may only have one chance at this!"

"You know it won't work if I come, Leader! Go!" Jack shouted back, Leader clenching his teeth together at the man's words. And not only him, but someone else was even more fed up with that statement.

"Braviary!"

"Huh?" Jack's curiosity got the better of him as he glanced over at the familiar female voice, noticing a red/white-feathered eagle was now heading towards him. Jack's eyes widened. "Oh no- _No_! Not this crap again! Don't you dare-!" but the man was unable to finish his sentence as his breath left his lungs, feeling a pair of claws gently wrap around his torso, plucking him off the ground and taking into the air. As the man shouted complaints about the situation, referring to something in the past that had supposedly 'scarred him for real', the eagle circled around and came back towards its trainer in the group with Salamence following its own trainer, Lexi giving a proud smile.

"Good job, Braviary!" she called, watching the eagle drop the man gently onto his feet. Jack exhaled slowly, pulling out his pokeball to recall his dragon who landed beside him.

"Dammit, pinky! I said no more of that!" Jack snapped, glaring at the girl flashing an innocent smile.

"Well, you give me no choice when you make stupid decisions like staying behind," she said, poking her tongue out playfully. Jack narrowed his eyes on her, giving a sigh. A screech in the air above them caught the attention of everyone in the group, looking up to see Giratina being pushed to the ground by Zekrom, now very close. Leader felt as if a burdening worry was lifted from his shoulders as he saw a strange beam of energy come from the dragon's mouth, hitting the ground and opening a portal. Zekrom noticed this, letting go of the dragon and pulling itself up from the downward momentum, watching the ghost-type disappear through the portal.

"Oh, thank- ...Ah, never mind that..." Krystal shrugged off her words, realizing that her intended words were not so true given the situation. Leader stood over the edge of the portal, peering down into it.

"Zekrom!" the Unova dragon looked down to its trainer as he noticed a beam of light coming from the purple sphere in his hand, spreading across Zekrom's body as it disappeared within the sphere. "Alright, everyone in-"

"Gyarados!" Trevor glanced over, seeing the water serpent in the air come crashing into the ground, the redhead running towards where it had come grinding to a stop.

"Come on, Steelix! You can handle it!" Webb's eyes drifted towards a large steel snake, experiencing a same situation as the water-type as its body was swung down into the ground like a whip by the regi leader.

"Gallade, help Blastoise!" the youngest and most desperate shouting came from Max, Mason noticing that his fighting/psychic-type was currently attempting to block an attack from Zygarde, but to no success as its body was sent flying backwards into a turtle, knocking it back as well.

"Guys!" everyone in the group glanced around at each other at Leader's desperate command, Jack getting a bad feeling in his chest as he looked around the group. "Guys, I'm serious! We have to go, _now_!"

"...You're right, Leader," Mason flashed a weak smile, Webb giving the same expression. Trevor moved his hands to his hips, giving a sigh as he closed his eyes.

"So come on-!" Leader stopped, feeling a pair of hands on his shoulders. His eyes moved towards the icy-blunette, who stood in front of him with her head down.

"Gina, wait-!" Leader glanced over to see the silver-haired girl do the same with Jack, but she refused to look away from him. Leader looked back in front of him to question the girl holding him in place, but was surprised to see the girl now giving him a gentle smile. With a tear in her eye.

"...I'm sorry, Leader..."

"Please forgive us."

Neither Jack nor Leader could reply, their minds having gone blank as they felt the girls' hands push them. As time seemed to slow down in the following moment, Leader noticed a smile on each of Krystal's, Mason's, Webb's, Lexi's, Trevor's, and even Gina's faces. Then, along with Jack, he disappeared through the portal.

* * *

Leader winced as he felt his back collide with the ground, his body turning and rolling a bit before coming to a stop. He quickly put his palms against the ground beneath him, his eyes darting back to where he had come from as he noticed Jack on the ground beside him. Seeing the smiling faces of each of his friends, the man felt a crushing pain in his chest as he noticed the edge of the portal begin to collapse.

"...No..." the man uttered, his body not responding to his brain's desperate commands to hurry back to the portal. As the portal shrank more and more, Leader could feel as if his grip on reality was being strained to the limits, seeing Lexi and Krystal raise their hands to wave to the man. He fumbled to his feet desperately at that moment, rushing towards the portal desperately. "No...No! NOOOO!"

But the portal closed before he could reach it.

* * *

The group stood in silence, the pain in their hearts almost making them oblivious to the war-like state of the area around them, ignoring the cries of pokemon waged in desperate battle.

"...It was...the right thing..." no one responded - nor did they even budge - at the blonde girl's words. They only stood, frozen in that moment, as they stared at the spot where the portal had once been that had taken their friends to safety.

"...Yeah..." the orange-haired man's reassuring words didn't seem to have their intended effect. Not one of them felt any better about what they had done because of it. "...I can only imagine how pissed he must be right now...And Jack has to deal with it..."

"...Well, they are blood, after all..." Webb chuckled weakly, but he wasn't able to put his heart behind it. Not this time.

"Leader's always pissed. Plain and simple," the others felt almost surprised at Trevor's honest and upfront statement, but they really weren't. The man crossed his arms. "...What matters right now is that he's safe. _Both_ of them are."

"Aww, so Trevor _does_ care..." the man felt his eyebrow twitch as the blonde poked an elbow into his gut playfully, a very sly smile on her face.

"...Well, then let's get back to making him proud," Krystal's lips spread into a bright smile, her spirits suddenly revitalized. Her smile became infectious in an instant, spreading to each of the others in the group. Well, Gina smirked, at least.

"Yeah. Something tells me that so-called water gym leader is attempting more than she can handle herself," Trevor stated, flashing his thumb back over his shoulder towards the redhead and water serpent who were battling in a bad state against the deity of space. Trevor looked around the group. Everyone gave a nod.

"For Leader!"

Following that moment, atop the peak of Spear Pillar, in the presence of the Pokemon world's god itself...all hell broke loose.

 **END**


	3. Chapter 3

**For A Future Not His Own**

 **CHAPTER 3**

The two men sat in silence. One was currently unable to process any thoughts into words, given that his mind had gone blank. The other's silence was more by choice, not wanting to upset the grief-stricken man at their friends' selfless decision. A short time had passed since the moment the portal had closed, their friends disappearing from sight. But from the reality around them, that time had seemed to stretch into something much longer.

"...Come on, Leader..." Jack gave a quiet sigh as he got onto his feet, looking down at the man sitting on the ground, his eyes not having left where the portal was. Jack crossed his arms behind his head, glancing around at his new surroundings. His basic knowledge of physics and space seemed pretty useless right about now, seeing that small islands of land were floating around in the air above and below the land they stood on, their bodies actually positioned sideways in the air. "...You're acting as if you're the only one who's affected by this...It hurts me too to have them do that, but...Let's be honest, Leader, with their loyalty...You really should've seen that coming..."

"...Did you...?" Jack almost flinched as the man finally broke his silence, Jack glancing at him curiously. The man didn't look up at him, only turning his head slightly to look at the ground beside him. "...Did you know...?"

"What are you-"

"Did you know they would do this?" Jack definitely flinched this time, the man's tone much more sharp and demanding. Jack hesitated, glancing away as he noticed Leader finally turn his head to face him. For once, Jack couldn't bear to look him in the eye. In an instant, Leader pushed himself to his feet, swiftly stepping towards Jack and absentmindedly grabbing his collar in a tight grip. Jack lost the breath in his lungs as he felt his collar tighten, looking back to see the regular cold, dark eyes of the man he had been traveling with. "Did you know they would do something stupid like staying behind?!"

"W-Wait, Leader-!" Jack felt the man's grip tighten on his collar, his lungs struggling to retake in the air it had lost. "L-Leader, I didn't know until just after the portal opened! I swear!"

"Then why didn't you say anything?!" he snapped back angrily, Jack almost feeling afraid at his tone. Ever since they met, Leader had made it almost a lifestyle to not reveal his emotions to others in any way, but this...Jack never knew he was even capable of this much anger.

"Because I didn't think they would actually do it! Leader, I-I swear-!" Jack's voice cracked slightly on the interrupted end of his defense, Leader's grip on his collar tightening more to the point his knuckles began to prod into the skin on his throat. Jack winced, clenching his teeth together as he felt his feet leave the ground, his hands desperately gripping Leader's to try and reduce the pain being inflicted. Leader's eyes suddenly softened, glancing down at his hands on his friend's throat, quickly pulling away. Jack was left to fall back to his feet, dropping to one knee and catching himself with one hand on the ground, the other on his throat as he breathed in deeply, exhaling slowly and repeating the process several times. Leader stared at Jack in shock, his eyes slowly moving back down to his hands at his sides.

"...I...I'm sorry, Jack..." he said in a quiet tone, feeling a sense of shame he had never experienced. Jack coughed, his breath returning to normal before looking up at Leader with concern.

"...Like I said, you're not the only one hurting right now..." Leader refused to look Jack in the eye as he got back to his feet, his friend stuffing his free hand in his pocket as the other rubbed his still-sore throat. "...They're my family, too..."

"...But I'm sorry for everything," Jack watched as Leader took a few steps towards the edge of the land they stood on, his eyes looking down into what seemed to be the lower part of the strange world around them. "...Not just for this...For the argument earlier...and what I've said..."

"...Relax. You may not show it, but I can tell your heart cares too much to actually mean that crap," Jack broke into a smile, planting his feet beside Leader as he placed a hand on his shoulder. "Besides, you know I have a lot more to apologize for, right from the start."

"...Thank you..." Jack shook his head slightly with a roll of his eyes as Leader voice barely came out in a whisper.

"Alright then, Leader, whaddya say we try to find a way out of here?" Jack asked, clapping his palms together as he looked around.

"There's no point. There's only one way in or out of the Distortion World..." Leader trailed off, his eyes noticing a small island floating up from below directly ahead of them. Jack's eyes widened as the man calmly stepped off the ground beneath him, his body floating through the air before he held his arms out and grabbed what appeared to be a crumbling stone archway, pushing off from it until his feet landed firmly on the ground which supported the structure. He looked back in the direction he had come from, seeing Jack had not moved with a shocked expression on his face. "What're you waiting for? A few seconds and it'll be too late, so get moving!"

"...Easy for you to say..." Jack muttered, shaking his head as he peeked over the edge slightly, quickly looking up with a slow exhale. Tightly closing his eyes, he pushed off just as his friend had, hoping that his attempt would be successful. He was half right. Leader felt his lips curl into a smile as he could tell Jack had not realized the island had began to turn, so Jack's body planted firmly against the ground despite his arms' attempt to stop himself.

"Nice."

"Shut it..." Jack muttered, rubbing his forehead with a sigh as he returned to his feet. He looked back towards the island they had jumped from, seeing it had now turned upside down from this new perspective. "Jeez, how did you do that so easily...? It's impossible to even tell what's up or down here..."

"I've been here once or twice. And that's because the truth is that there is no up or down, or right or left. The Distortion World is a place where common logic doesn't apply, so you're better off _not_ thinking here," Leader explained, Jack glancing away as he crossed his arms behind his head.

"That explains why you seem so at home..." Leader smirked to himself at the man's poor attempt to hide his remark, but chose to leave it as he began walking along the stone path which stretched across the chunk of land. "So, when you said one way in or out...I suppose you mean Giratina..."

"As the ruler and sole inhabitant of this world, it's only natural that Giratina is the only one who can open a connection," Leader replied, Jack giving him a curious look.

"So, you being here before...I don't suppose it was during your fun days with May?"

"May was travelling Johto at the time, and I came here from Sinnoh. This was long before we had...become closer."

"In body and soul, united as two kids in lo- Hey, wait, you guys were still _kids_. Oh, Arceus, Leader, don't tell me you two-!"

"We did _not_ , you idiot. Get your head out of the gutter."

"...Temporarily setting that aside...You never have told me how you - being _you_ \- managed to get a girlfriend in the first place."

"What happened to you settling on wondering in silence?"

"Eh, got bored I guess. Besides, if Giratina's our only ticket out of here, then it looks to me like we're gonna have a lot of time to kill."

"...Well, it's not like it'll be soo-"

"Oh, wait. Let's see if we can find some popcorn around here first, I always have popcorn with my drama."

"Do you _ever_ stop?"

"In my defense, you told me it's better not to think in this world," Jack smirked to himself, noticing Leader turn his head away from him. He had him beat there. "But okay, jokes done for a minute. Why did a girl like her decide to settle for a-"

" _Settle_?"

"You know what I mean," Jack rolled his eyes, noticing the end of the path cut off of the edge of the land beneath them a few steps ahead. Jack quickly moved towards the edge, stopping and spinning on his heels to face back towards Leader, arms crossed behind his head. "Let's be honest, I'm sure as a kid you weren't the brightest _or_ sharpest tool in the toolbox."

"...Really..." Leader smirked to himself, Jack giving a confused look at the man's amusement. He watched his friend step towards him, holding his palm out towards Jack. "Well, time does fly," Jack was confused to feel Leader press his palm against his chest, giving an odd look to the man's eyes. But despite the amusement, the next moment made Jack regret his decision. Leader only smiled as he watched the entertainment before him, which was Jack's body doing somersaults through the air over the edge of the island. Listening to Jack's cursing towards him, Leader simply crossed his arms as he continued to watch, watching an island soon come floating down from above giving Jack's back a not-so-soft cushion to land against. The island continued to float down, Leader peering over the edge and seeing Jack's lips moving as he rubbed the back of his head, glaring at him as he continued to curse to himself. Leader noticed another island coming from the side, pushing himself towards it and landing against the side, walking onto the underside of it, pushing off again so that he came down gracefully onto the ground in front of Jack.

"You're an ass, you know that?"

"What would make you say that?"

"Oh I don't know, 'cause I'm just a tourist in the Distortion World for the first time and I don't know how _anything_ works around here!"

"Huh. Maybe you should ask your other sharp tools for help."

"I - _Oooooh_ , okay..." Jack shook his head to himself as he bit his lip, resisting the urge to retort that comment. He did know he deserved it. Leader smirked, feeling satisfied as he looked out into the distance of floating islands.

"...You know...This is really fun, Jack..."

"Sure, 'cause you're getting your jabs in, I know. I feel them."

"Not for that. It's just...it's like before."

"Before? What are you talking about?"

"Before the others...When it was just us."

"...Huh..." was all Jack responded with as his eyes drifted into the same distance that kept his friend's attention. The two men stood in silence after that comment, but not because of embarrassment or shame or anything like that. It was because it was true. And they both knew it. "...It really has been a while now, hasn't it...?"

"Sure has..." Leader replied simply, Jack unable to hold back a smile.

"I still remember seeing you on that battlefield against that ass of a trainer who abandoned his pokemon after it lost to you. I used to think you were pretty sketchy with that image."

"And _I_ remember the first time I saw you was when you fell out of a tree, spying on me."

"...Ah...Right...I thought we were past that?"

"We are."

"...Okay..."

"And if I recall, you used the worst excuse in the book and tried to play it off as a nap."

"Okay, first off, there is no _book_ , alright? I've checked. Secondly, it is not the _worst_ excuse and you know it."

"...Heh..."

"What?"

"Nothing..."

"No, that's your you're-an-idiot face. What?"

"...That's why you always went to the bookstores..."

"Oh, shut up," Jack rolled his eyes, noticing Leader's shoulders begin to tremble slightly. The two men glanced at each other, neither able to resist. As the two men broke into laughter, Jack held his side as Leader held the side of his head, each of their spirits instantly lifted as their thoughts drifted into memories. The two knew it was fun having Lexi and the others around, but what Leader had said was also right. The two men had been together before they had come to meet the others, and the pair had constantly poked fun at one another at each other's expense. But despite the jokes, the jabs, and the seemingly harsh remarks they made, neither one had ever taken it seriously. Because they both knew it was fun. And what would life be if you didn't have fun?

"...O...Okay, what's next...?" Leader asked, attempting to curb his laughter as Jack did the same.

"Well...We could go back to you and May," Jack suggested, Leader arching an eyebrow.

"You're not one to run out of material so quickly. Why don't we go to you and Lexi?" he asked, Jack giving a quiet sigh to himself.

"Nah, I'd rather not. Besides, you can't dodge it forever, you know," Jack said, Leader looking into the air above them.

"...We were kids, just trying to be happy. And that just happened to be when we were together," Leader replied, Jack giving a sly grin.

"Don't tell me you don't believe in _fate_ , Leader," Jack said in a taunting tone, his companion smirking as he closed his eyes.

"I've cheated death on more than one occasion, and we are literally in another world hiding from _god_. Explain that logic."

"...Fair point...Alright, so you guys loved each other. But I've heard a few times now that you two weren't open to everyone about it. Why hide it?"

"Because of the world around us, Jack. You know how it is."

"Well, maybe a little differently...but I guess so..." Jack smiled to himself, glancing to the man beside him. "Let's do a hypothetical. Let's say none of this works out. Your friends somehow manage to stop us, the world never finds out what we tried to accomplish, and everything goes back to what some might call peace."

"Where are you going with this?"

"Consider everything that you've done up until now, everything you've said to May and how you've treated her anytime she and the others tried to stop us. If she still begged you to go back, pretending like nothing happened...Would you do it?"

"...I couldn't. I would never be able to go back, knowing how I treated her...things couldn't possibly go back to how they were..."

"Alright, then here's a second one. Same scenario, but instead of begging you to go back, May agrees to let you go as long as you tell her whether or not you still love her."

"...You are a persistent pain sometimes. You already know the answer to that."

"Yeah, but it would be _so_ much funnier to me to hear you say it. I'm sure you were gonna say it back on Spear Pillar if I hadn't interrupted you guys."

"...You're probably right..." Leader gave a quiet sigh, ignoring the sly look he was being given by his companion. Staring straight ahead, he felt his mind change focus to the brunette in question, her bright smile in his head taking control of his own lips. "...Of course I still love her."

"Ha haaaa, _there_ it is! The feels cometh out as Leader doth have a heart!" Leader felt his eyebrow twitch as Jack wrapped an arm around his neck.

"Oh, will you shut up? And you are using that language all wrong," he replied, Jack only laughing in response.

"I don't care 'cause _yooouu_ have a heart!" Leader couldn't resist the urge to smile as he watched Jack laugh to himself happily, holding Leader from escaping with one arm while he lightly tapped his other fist against Leader's shoulder. "Oh, man, wait 'til the others hear about this! Krystal's gonna kill someone!"

"You realize that will probably be you, right?" Leader asked, arching an eyebrow at the man. Jack froze.

"...Crap...But worth it...maybe not..." Leader chuckled as he watched his friend wage a battle with himself in his mind, as if actually considering an untimely death was worth the humiliation of his friend. "Well, regardless, at least you'll get support from Mason and Webb. Trevor will try and act all cool or whatever, and Gina...Actually, I really don't know what Gina would do. I used to think she had a thing for you, but I was never sure since...you know, it's Gina."

"You thought Gina had a thing for me?" Leader asked, surprised. Jack arched an eyebrow.

"Are you kidding? With all that crap about the 'midnight talks' way back when? And do I even need to mention the first night she joined us?"

"Hey, I said I didn't know she was a sleepwalker! You thought it was bad for you? She scared _me_ half to death!"

"Riiight...You seemed pretty happy with her little present, though..."

"I was _not_ happy and you know it! ...Why would she even sleep with a bra, anyway? It's not like May ever-"

"Aha! You _did_!"

"-ever _mentioned_ girls doing that! Seriously, man!" Jack only laughed it off, rolling his eyes as Leader punched his shoulder. Leader sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead. "You know, having tact for once in your life might do you better results with the girls yourself..."

"Yeah, but what's the fun in that?" Jack grinned in response, Leader shaking his head in amusement. Jack was surprised to feel Leader wrap his own arm around Jack's neck, pulling him a bit closer as he stared ahead into the open world before them. "What, getting sentimental on me now?"

"...Thank you, Jack," Jack arched an eyebrow, glancing at him curiously.

"Here comes the punchline..." he said, Leader giving a chuckle.

"No, I'm serious. For the first day we met...For getting me into all of this..." Leader trailed off, Jack wrapping his own arm back around Leader's neck, flashing a grin to the man. "...Despite what's going on right now...I never would have met any of the others, or had all these fun times if not for you. So thanks."

"Yeah, well, I owe you just as much thanks," Jack chuckled in response, his eyes drifting upward to nothing in particular. "It wouldn't have gotten any of those results if you hadn't agreed to our arrangement. So it's not like you only have me to thank, you gotta give yourself some of the credit. Not to mention you are the leader, after all."

"Only because _you_ made me be," Leader responded, Jack feeling the corner of his mouth perk up. The two men glanced at each other, sharing a smile as they tightened the grip of their arms around each other's necks, beaming as they bumped heads for a brief moment.

"...Thanks for staying...after all this time..."

* * *

 _2 years ago, a few days after Leader and Jack met..._

 _"Aaah, another beautiful day out here..." Jack gave a sigh of relief, stretching his arms above his head as he stepped out into the sunlight. Following his recent encounter with a particular interesting trainer, he had begun staying nightly in a pokemon center in the next town over from where he had been a few days ago. As he cracked his neck, he winced and moved his hand to rub it. "Although, I guess pokemon centers don't have the best pillows..."_

 _"You sound as if you've never been in one before," Jack's eyes traveled back over his shoulder, noticing the man he had recently met walking towards him, his electric-type partner perched on his shoulder as he stopped beside him outside the doorway._

 _"Well, I'm not much of a traveler...wanted to, but never really been able to..." Jack replied absentmindedly, scratching the back of his head as he looked into the bright blue sky above them. Ash arched an eyebrow._

 _"What held you back?" he asked, Jack flinching at his words._

 _"...Ah...Well, you know how it is...I just had...stuff to do before I got out there," Jack replied, Ash clearly noticing the hesitation in his answer as Jack began to laugh nervously, stepping away from him. "Anyways, what do you say to a walk? Such a nice day, it would be a waste to stay inside."_

 _"That is true..." Ash said to himself, following after the man. Having only been a few days since they met, Ash still wasn't quite sure what to make of Jack. They had gotten along pretty well in their first encounter, considering their common opinions about the neglectful trainer Ash had fought that day, but things had become a little more complicated since Jack had mentioned pokemon liberation. Truth be told, Ash had agreed to his proposal on impulse. It wasn't a lie to say that he believed Jack was wrong about what he believed in, he had several more encounters than he should have on his adventures regarding trainers who didn't treat their pokemon properly or poachers pawning them for money. Since the pair had taken off from where they met, they only traveled to the next small town over, settling in the pokemon center on Jack's request. Ash was curious at the time to see a man so excited to stay at a pokemon center for a night. They were so common in the world, and yet Jack was as excited as a kid on Christmas about it. Not only that, there was his personality in general._

 _Ash thought that Jack almost resembled a man with several mixed personalities. He had been so serious when speaking about liberation and making real change in the world, Ash could have sworn that he had a personal vendetta for something. Then the next morning when they left the pokemon center to get lunch somewhere nearby, it was pouring rain to Ash's dismay. But Jack was the complete opposite. He was ecstatic. Ash actually had to drag the man back into the center to keep him from catching a cold dancing in the rain, and even in the next two days, Ash never understood why he had acted that way. In fact, Jack only added on to the confusion. When the rain stopped and Ash decided to let Jack outside again, as if a puppy let off its leash, he burst outside and moved so quick that Ash actually had to chase after him. When he finally did manage to catch up, he found Jack talking with a girl who looked about their age, who didn't seem so thrilled to meet Jack. Ash was expecting to have to cheer him up, just as he had experienced countless times with his former traveling companion from Pewter City, but instead watched the scene of a young man attempt again with another girl. Then another. It was quite reminiscent of Brock, but at the same time, his spirits were somehow never broken..._

 _"Ash? Hey, earth to Ash!"_

 _"Huh?" Ash blinked, shaking his head slightly as he backed his head away from the man's thumb and middle finger pressed together in front of his face._

 _"Wow, you really do go out of it when you do, don't you?" Jack chuckled, lowering his hand to his side with a smile. Ash looked at him curiously._

 _"Sorry, just...thinking..." he said, glancing away briefly. Jack gave him an odd look, then shrugged it off._

 _"Well, I was asking if you wanted to camp outside tonight. We're nowhere near a big city so there's no electricity, and you know, that's better for being under the stars. Plus I read there's a full moon tonight, which sounds awesome," Ash narrowed his eyes on the man's happy smile, which Jack took notice of. "...What? Something on my face?"_

 _"...You just...seem really happy about all the little things..." Ash said slowly, unsure as to how the man would react. Jack glanced away, scratching the back of his head as he gave a nervous chuckle._

 _"Well...I heard it in a movie once. Enjoy the little things. It's got a nice ring to it, and it's true, so why not live it?" he asked, still smiling as he turned away towards some trees in the distance. "Look, I bet you there's a good clearing over there to camp out!"_

 _"Jack, it's only noon- Aaaand he's gone..." Ash sighed once more, the man having disappeared from his sight. "This guy's gonna be a handful, isn't he, buddy?"_

"Pika..." _the mouse cooed, his trainer stroking the fur under his chin with a smile. Ash shook his head slightly, heading in the direction that Jack had disappeared to. True enough to his word, not too far into the trees was a clearing of decent size, Jack lying on the grass in the middle with each of his limbs stretched out._

 _"Maaan, gotta love nature!" Ash arched an eyebrow, amused as the man suddenly sat up, beaming as he unclipped two pokeballs from his belt, beaming as he tossed them up into the air. Ash watched the two beams of light come down to the ground, taking form of a blue dragon and a pokemon that he had only recently learned about but never seen in person. The figure stood on two legs like a human, with very large arms and sharp claws. Its main attributes were that of a cat, however, sporting a long tail behind it and a mane of fur around its neck sprouting out like large whiskers, the majority of its fur colored red and black save for its grey chest._

 _"Is that...an incineroar?" Ash asked, his eyes curiously scanning the pokemon's physique. Jack nodded._

 _"Sure is. Incineroar here has been my pal since before I could remember, I was told as a kid that he took a liking to me one day as a litten and just hung around me all the time. So when I grew up, I wanted him to stay around forever," the fire-type grinned as the man pat its leg, the pokemon taking a seat on the grass beside him. Ash's eyes drifted to the dragon on Jack's other side. "Salamence here was a bit of a different case. I snuck out one night for a walk and found a bagon being picked on by a salamence."_

 _"Don't tell me..." Ash's eyes drifted to the dragon, Jack giving a shake of his head._

 _"No, that wasn't him. He was the bagon," Jack ran his hand along the neck of the dragon, it giving a happy growl. "Back then, he was too small to fight back against that salamence. He wouldn't have stood a chance."_

 _"...So you helped him..."_

 _"I couldn't exactly just stand there and watch that happen, you know? Watching someone get picked on like that...just because they can't fight back...It just got me. Before I knew it, Incineroar and I were fending off that salamence to protect the little guy. When it finally did leave, I decided to head out again too, but the little refused to leave my side from that point on. Wasn't long before he evolved, then again, bringing him to the beast he is now," Jack chuckled, the dragon rubbing its head against the man's cheek. Ash smiled._

 _"So you really are just a nice guy," he said, Jack arching an eyebrow._

 _"Did I give the impression of being a jerk? I'm just a guy who cares about pokemon, and can't stand bad treatment of anyone," Jack chuckled in response, Ash unable to resist joining in. Jack fell back on the grass, giving a sigh as he looked up at the sky above them. "Now that I think about it, it's lunchtime, isn't it? You wanna try that other place we didn't go to yesterday?"_

 _"Sounds good. But it's not like there's any reason to hurry," Jack glanced down to see Ash unclipping five spheres from his belt, his eyes widening as he saw the powerful-looking pokemon appear around them._

 _"Oh man, these guys are awesome!" Jack beamed as he looked over the grass-type Hoenn starter he had seen days earlier, fire lizard, black/red land crocodile, large bird, and the grinning face of a spirit emerging from a small cracked stone. "You have a sceptile_ and _a charizard?"_

 _"Sure do. These are only a few of my best, though," Ash said, the two starter evolutions giving a smirk as they stood proudly._

 _"So which one's been with you since the beginning?" Jack asked, his eyes curiously looking over the two. Ash smiled, shaking his head._

 _"Neither. That honor belongs to Pikachu," Jack's eyes drifted to the small mouse on Ash's shoulder in surprise, who gave a cute little wave in agreement. "This little guy's been with me since day one, even if we didn't start on good terms. Not long after, I caught Pidgeot, then I caught Charizard as just a charmander. He was abandoned by his trainer and left out to die in the rain. I guess like you and salamence, I couldn't just walk away from that."_

 _"So you guys had something similar, huh...?" Jack looked curiously towards the fire-type, who only gave a simple nod._

 _"Yeah, I've been through a lot with each of these guys. Even Spiritomb, despite not being with me as long as the others," the ghost-type hovered towards the man, circling in the air around him earning an amused look. Then something dawned on him. "...Wait a sec. Did you say you snuck out the night you met Salamence?"_

 _"Yeah, why?" Jack responded absentmindedly, the reason behind Ash's curiosity not dawning on him._

 _"Why did you have to_ sneak _out? You got strict parents or something?" Jack cringed. Truth be told, Ash had come to understand that Jack was a bit of an odd fellow, so he wasn't too surprised when the man crossed his arms behind his head and gave another nervous laugh._

 _"Well, you know...Something like that..." he looked away from Ash, who stared at him curiously as he watched the man suddenly get to his feet. "Anyways, I'm getting pretty hungry now. I'm gonna go see if that place is busy," Ash's eyes never left him as he walked through the trees and out of sight. A few moments passed before Ash gave a quiet sigh, crouching to one knee._

 _"Mind holding the fort here, Pi? I gotta check something," the mouse gave a nod, hopping to the ground from his shoulder. The man turned away, leaving the pokemon to relax in the clearing as he went after Jack. It wasn't long before he caught up with him on the dirt path leading to the town. "Jack."_

 _"Huh? Oh, you're hungry too?" Jack scratched the back of his head, giving an embarrassed look. "Sorry, I would've asked if you wanted to come if I had known."_

 _"That's not why I came," Ash responded, narrowing his eyes on the man. "...I want to know your story. Your_ real _story."_

 _"What are you talking about? I have been-" Jack stopped, noticing Ash's expression had grown more serious than earlier._

 _"No lies, Jack. The way you were talking earlier, what you said about the world and making a change...No one decides on something like that without having a good reason. Or having been through something," Jack didn't react for a few moments as Ash stared at him. Then the man gave a weak smile, stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning away. "Jack, I'm not saying I will understand what you've been through. But I am saying that I want to know so I can help. I can't stand by and watch someone get hurt, remember?"_

 _"...Damn..." Ash heard Jack give a quiet chuckle to himself, glancing back over his shoulder. "...It's not like a fairy tale, you know. You might even cry."_

 _"...I'll risk it," Ash gave him a smile, breaking Jack's will. He gave a quiet sigh, nodding towards the path and starting to walk, Ash following beside him._

 _"...Truth is, I'm an orphan now. I've been on my own since I was two...when my dad left, and never came back," Ash felt a crushing pain in his chest. He could tell that Jack was keeping something from him, but he never imagined it was like that._

 _"...What about your mother?" Ash asked slowly, now unsure whether or not to continue._

 _"Never knew her. As far as I know, it's only ever been my dad and me, so I don't know if they just didn't get along...or something happened to her...I have no idea..." Jack said, giving a quiet sigh to himself. "I have heard a few people around me say that my dad mentioned my mom's name before, when I was too young to remember...but a lot of good that does me in a world this big..."_

 _"...So have you been traveling since you turned ten? With Incineroar, and Salamence?"_

 _"Nah, I never could. I was usually kept indoors. I was always told it was 'for my safety' and 'to make sure I was okay', but...it always felt more like a prison, you know? That's why I had to sneak out every now and then, get myself some real air."_

 _"Kept? Were you staying with another relative?"_

 _"No...As far as I know, I don't have any other relatives. I don't really know anything about my family. All I ever knew was my dad...Might be better off alone, actually, considering what he did...so all I ever knew was that hospital..."_

 _"But why would your-" Ash froze, his feet stopping in his tracks. Jack continued a few steps, unaware that his companion had stopped. "...Hospital?"_

 _"Yeah. That's where I've been all my life," Jack replied calmly, glancing to his side and noticing the man was gone. He stopped, turning back to see Ash a few feet behind him. "...I told you it wasn't a happy story, man."_

 _"You've been in a hospital? Alone? Since you were two?" Ash asked, the surprise in his voice as clear as the shining sun above them. Jack smiled weakly, giving a nod._

 _"Truth is...I'm not exactly in the best health," Ash's eyes narrowed on Jack, who kicked a small stone by his foot while looking at the ground. "Since birth, I...I've had pretty bad health. The nurses and doctors around me refused to ever tell me what was wrong, which really made it worse, to be honest...They always tried to keep me cheerful and happy...like they do with the patients who are-"_

 _"Nurses..." Jack stopped, his eyes glancing towards Ash. The man still stood frozen, his eyes starting to get wider as he looked at Jack. "...You've been around nurses...!"_

 _"...Well, yeah, hospitals tend to have nurses. Why do you seem surprised by that?" Jack asked, giving a weak laugh as Ash began walking towards him._

 _"You said they mentioned hearing your mom's name...What was her name?" Jack was surprised to feel Ash put his hands on his shoulders, his grip starting to tighten. "Jack, what is your mother's name?"_

 _"W-What? What does that matter?"_

 _"Please, Jack!"_

 _"A-Alright, man! It was Delia!"_

 _"..."_

 _"..."_

 _"..."_

 _"...What's up with you...? Is it that uncommon of a name?"_

 _"...It wasn't me..." Jack's expression turned to utter confusion, glancing down at Ash's hand on his shoulder which he could feel beginning to tremble slightly. Then Ash pulled the man into a hug, surprising him further._

 _"W-Whoa, man, seriously, what's up?" Jack asked, unsure how to respond to this._

 _"The nurses..." Jack's confusion grew at the words spoken in a whisper beside his head, his eyes staring at Ash as if trying to read his thought process on the side of his head. "...The nurses weren't calling for me..."_

 _"From a few days ago? Well, yeah, they were from the hospital I stayed at, who else would they call-"_

 _..._

 _... ..._

 _... ... ..._

 _Suddenly, it made sense. Feeling as though he recognized Ash at first sight. Ash's curiosity about his mother's name. Ash's impromptu reaction to hearing his mother's name._

 _"...Ash...What's_ your _mother's name...?"_

 _"...A pretty uncommon one."_

 _Jack couldn't move a muscle in his body as he felt Ash pull away from him. Slowly, he looked towards the man's face, noticing a beaming smile that seemed out of character for the seemingly-badass he had met a few days prior. But there was something else. A tear of joy leaving his eye._

 _"...Y...You're..."_

 _"...It's nice to meet you...Jack Ketchum..."_

 **END**


	4. Chapter 4

**For A Future Not His Own**

 **CHAPTER 4**

"You know, this place is actually a lot of fun," Leader smirked at Jack's comment, glancing back over his shoulder noticing the man pressing his foot onto the crumbled concrete wall beside them, stepping upward which resulted in his body turning so that he stood horizontally. "Seriously, this place is like the greatest funhouse ever!"

"Seeing as how gravity has no defined center, nor the strength as it does in the regular world, it is rather relaxing here. Although that means it's just as, if not more dangerous," Leader replied, Jack craning his neck upward to look at the man standing perpendicular to him.

"And how's that? I'm willing to bet a little kid would think this is awesome," Jack said, Leader giving a slight roll of his eyes as he turned away.

"One, given that Giratina is the only inhabitant of this world and does not enjoy visitors. And two, the floating islands that are constantly shifting positions," Jack's eyes glanced over to some floating chunks of land in the distance, giving a roll of his own eyes as he returned his feet to level ground with Leader's.

"Alright, those are understandable. But, I think you're forgetting the most miraculous and probably exciting thing about this," Jack told him, Leader arching an eyebrow.

"Oh, and what's-" as Leader glanced over, his mind had instantly changed to a state of confusion and panic as he saw his friend's body was now upside down in the air. His hands instinctively reached out towards Jack, but stopped as he saw his feet come back to the ground and land safely, the expression on Jack's face being pure entertainment to Leader.

"See? Backflips are _so_ easy here!"

"...You are such a child..." Leader chuckled, shaking his head slightly as he stared at the man. Jack only beamed a wide grin back in response, crossing his arms behind his head.

"Oh whatever, you're just jealous that you're probably too _old_ to do it."

"...You realize that makes no sense coming from you, right?"

"...Yeah, but it's still funny."

"Maybe to anyone that's not us. But if it's just you saying that to me, then you're just an idiot," Leader said with a smile, Jack narrowing his eyes on his companion.

"Oh, really? So would an idiot do... _this_!" Leader stepped to the side, hearing the man shout as his body dove past him, his chest colliding with the ground. "...Dammit..."

"You always were the worst at stealth, compared to the others," Leader told him, giving an all-knowing look to the man on the ground. He rolled onto his back, glaring up at him as Leader moved his feet to stand beside his body.

"Yeah, yeah, you're the best. A little help?" Jack extended his arm up into the air, giving Leader an expectant look. The man looked down at Jack a few moments, hesitating, then laughed as he noticed Jack's expression turn to disgust, taking his hand.

"'Cause if there's anything you constantly need, it's help," Leader said, pulling the man to his feet. Jack only glared at him as Leader released his hand, turning away and starting to walk again.

"Oh, shut up. It's a good thing I could always rely on Mason or Webb, 'cause you're just...never..." Leader never heard the end of the man's sentence, but instead heard a faint _thud_ behind him. He quietly sighed to himself with a smile.

"Come on, Jack, you weren't even doing a flip that time-" Leader's voice stopped in his throat as Jack didn't give a witty retort, but instead gave something that had Leader had pushed to the back of his mind since they had started having fun in this world. Worry. And it was due to Jack's coughing.

"Shut...up..." Leader craned his neck around, his eyes setting on his friend, now on the ground once more, holding up his upper body with one palm on the ground. The worrying feeling in Leader only grew in the coming moments as Jack began to cough more. And became more violent.

"Jack!" Jack glanced up, giving a roll of his eyes as he noticed Leader hurry towards him and crouch in front of him, his fit of coughs not stopping.

"Relax, Lea- ...This...is nothing..." Leader could only stare at Jack as he coughed uncontrollably, cursing the truth in his mind as he watched his friend in pain.

"...It is getting worse..." Jack closed his eyes, cursing himself at Leader's words. He gave no response to the man given that he was unable to stop his coughing, but it's not like that was the only reason. He didn't _want_ to answer him. "...Dammit, Jack, why would you keep quiet if it was this ba-"

"It's not that bad...At least before..." somehow managing to hold back the violent ejections of the air in his lungs, Jack moved his body so that he sat on the ground, one knee up with an elbow resting on it as he supported himself with the other hand on the ground, his breathing having gotten heavier. "...I was fine...on Spear Pillar..."

"...It's this place..." Leader's eyes looked up to his surroundings in concern, realizing. "Coming here must have had an impact and made it worse. If that's the case, then we-"

"Shut it...I said, I'm fine..." Jack replied quickly, attempting to push himself to his feet. Leader put his hand on his shoulder, stopping him. "Come on, man, we don't have time-"

"Not _both_ of us have to move to get a way out. Just rest and I'll...figure this out," Jack lowered his head, hiding his smile as he gave a chuckle. Leader got to his feet again, turning away from Jack and looking around in worry, desperately trying to think of something. Jack glanced up to see Leader's back, his head turning frantically, only imagining the panicked state his mind must be in. Giving another quiet chuckle to himself, he shook his head as he closed his eyes, his thoughts drifting to something that the current moment had reminded him of. A memory.

"And here I was...Thinking you would be just a jerk...brother..."

* * *

 _The two men sat in painful silence, the quiet chatters of others in the café causing background noise to the otherwise silent moment. The two men had continued into the small town and sat down in the booth of a café, each being given a complimentary glass of water as well as time to order from the menus placed on the table between them. Their bodies had picked up the menus and opened them mindlessly as if a routine, seeing as how their brains were currently pre-occupied with another task. And yet, the processing didn't seem to be working well. Since their revelation on the road a few minutes ago, neither of the men had spoken a word to one another. Neither of them were even sure_ what _to say._

 _"...So..." Ash almost flinched as he heard Jack's voice, seeming like such a long time since he had heard it, neither of them moving the menus between them due to the awkward tension of what had been realized earlier._

 _"...So..." more moments passed in silence. That was honestly the best they could come up with. And yet, strangely enough...it_ was _enough. Slowly, but surely, a smile had spread to both of their faces, each beginning to laugh to themselves. Then it became more uncontrollable. In a matter of seconds, they were both laughing heartily, not even realizing that they had each dropped their menus as they moved their hands to their eyes, covering them in worries of laughing_ too _hard. A few other guests within the café gave almost worries looks towards the two men in the booth, who seemed to be having the time of their lives without caring who saw it. Just over a minute passed before the two men were able to slowly recollect themselves, their laughter coming to a more calm level. They each removed their hands from their faces, eyes meeting awkwardly._

 _"...That wasn't too weird, right? Like it's understandable we reacted...like that?"_

 _"I would think so, yeah..."_

 _"...But this did get really weird, right? I'm not imagining it?"_

 _"You're definitely not imagining it."_

 _"...Well, that's a relief, at least..." Jack gave a sigh of relief, closing his eyes and leaning his head back against the head of the booth behind him. Then his eyes shot open. "Oh, Arceus, I didn't mean it like that! I'm not saying that this - what you just realized - is not a relief, I-I'm just saying-!"_

 _"Relax, relax, I feel the same," Ash chuckled, lifting his hand with a shake of his head. Jack gave a sigh, slouching into his seat as he looked to his side in embarrassment._

 _"...Sorry...I just...I have no idea how to react to all of this...what to think of this..." he said slowly, Ash giving a nod as he smiled to himself, looking down into the liquid of the glass in front of him. "...All I ever heard is that it was me and my dad...Anytime I asked about my family, that's what the nurses always told me. They never mentioned my mom to my face...But I guess that's because they never saw her, so it's not like they had much to say besides her name they heard..."_

 _"...Right..." Ash said quietly, a sinking feeling in his chest as he recalled Jack's earlier story._

 _"...But I guess now I know that she's okay, at least," Ash glanced up, noticing Jack with a warm smile as he had his elbow on the table, his chin in his palm as he looked out to the side. "...All these years, I've been wondering so many things about her...Who she is...What she's done...Where she is..."_

 _"..."_

 _"...And then I met you. Sure, it may have been a random encounter, but maybe not, you know? I'm not saying I believe in fate or anything, but...well, it's kind of awesome, really. A few days ago you were just a stranger who cared about pokemon just as much as I do, and now...you're...my..."_

 _"...Jack?" Ash's expression turned to concern as he watched the man struggle to collect his thoughts, noticing the man plant his face in his palms._

 _"...Man...Never found myself like this before..." Ash noticed Jack's voice crack slightly towards the end of his sentence, feeling his lips spread into a smile as Jack dropped the back of his hands onto the table, his forehead noticeably impacting with the table. "...You gotta believe me, man, I'm not ever like this...I just never thought...I would have..."_

 _"...Hey," Jack hesitated for a moment, before slightly parting two fingers, his one eye glancing up through the crack towards the man sitting across from him. "You have every right to be like this. You've been on your own since you were almost a baby. You've basically never known anyone in your family, the only one being someone you were way too young to remember before he left. Hell, I've been isolated on my own the past few years, and I'm actually struggling here to keep it together," Jack looked surprised at Ash's words, who only gave a nod with his smile to reassure him. "So don't be embarrassed or anything, it's natural. Go ahead and cry as much as you want."_

 _"...Okay, I can tell that's a jab..." Jack muttered behind his palms, Ash giving a chuckle as he was still able to decipher his words. Jack lowered his hands with a slow sigh, closing his eyes as he took a deep breath in. Opening them again, he smiled._

 _"...Thank you, Ash. Really," Ash couldn't help but smile as well. He had only known this man a few days, and yet he was somehow getting to know this man faster than any of his friends he had met on his journeys in the past. Ash had been wondering this for a while now, but at this moment, he thought he had finally found the answer. Something that neither of them knew, and yet...maybe it was at least_ partly _fate that brought them together because of it._

 _"No problem, Jack. What else are brothers for?"_

* * *

"Giratina! Giratinaaa!"

"Face it, Leader...It's not gonna hear you..."

"Yes it will. I _know_ it will. Giratinaaa!"

"Leader...I know you don't want to admit it, but we're stuck here," Jack sighed, pulling a pokenav from his pocket and tapping the screen, which lit up to display 'no signal'. "And being in another world, guess it's obvious there's no reception...We can't even tell how long we've been here now..."

"Giratinaaaa!" Jack gave another quiet sigh to himself, his friend ignoring his words as he continued to shout into the air. Jack slowly pushed himself to his feet, moving towards the man. "Gira-!"

"Leader," Leader cringed at his friend's serious tone behind him, feeling a hand on his shoulder. He slowly turned around to look at him, seeing Jack smile with a shake of his head. "...Come on, don't go breaking the agreement now-"

"I'm not. Giratina!" Leader shouted, Jack giving another quiet sigh as he lowered his head.

"...You know it's ti-"

"It is _not_!" Leader could feel every fibre of his being burning with anger. For his friends saving them but staying behind. For Jack's recklessness with Arceus. For feeling as if there were a chance to get close to May again, only to have to leave her a second time. For Jack's insistence on giving up. For this damned dragon to have not heard him by now. But all of that paled in comparison to one thing. The very thing that drove him these past two years. And how he felt so helpless in light of it. His thoughts were in a frenzy due to all of this, the latter having the most crippling effect on his mind.

"GIRATINAAAAAAA!"

Leader put all of his energy into that one final scream to nowhere. His voice carried throughout the Distortion World, reverberating off any surface it could come across, seeming as if it could be heard throughout the entire realm. But nothing happened. No Giratina. No portal. No hope. Just silence. Leader's head dropped, his gaze becoming focused on the dirt between his feet. He couldn't do anything. Leader, the man each of his friends respected and looked up to for guidance, as well as friendship...was helpless. Unable to do a thing.

"...Hey," Leader closed his eyes, a worrying feeling starting to overcome him as he felt an arm wrap around his neck, followed by a chin on his shoulder. "You have every right to be like this. You've been on your own since...a while, before you met me," Leader felt the corner of his mouth perk up. He recognized these words. "You spent a lot of time without friends, so you don't know how to handle a social thing like this. Hell, I'm the one in this mess, so of course I'm struggling here to keep it together," Jack could hear Leader give a quiet chuckle to himself, feeling himself smile as well. "So don't be embarrassed or anything, it's natural. Go ahead and cry as _much_ as you want."

"...Dammit, Jack...You can't even be original at a time like this..." Leader laughed weakly, Jack unable to resist joining. Leader took a deep breath, almost feeling refreshed by the same speech he had spoken to Jack when they first met.

"Well hey, at least I changed the parts that wouldn't make sense," Jack laughed, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin. Leader scratched the corner of his eye, worrying if he had let a tear out during that moment. He could tell Jack hadn't paid any attention to it, but he could still feel the slightest amount of moisture in the corner of his eye. "So, you good now? Don't need any tissues?"

"Oh, shut it," Leader chuckled, the pair staring at each other for a few moments. Then Leader pulled Jack into a hug, to his surprise. "...Thank you, Jack...For being here..."

"...Come on, you know you're the one who's been here for me...Ash..." the two men smiled to themselves, neither one seeing the other's face as they embraced. When they finally parted, they each clasped a hand on the other's shoulder with broad smiles. "So, whaddya say? Wanna go island-hopping until we're rescued?"

"...For once, that's actually not a bad idea from you," Jack ignored the jab at him, laughing with Leader as the man couldn't help himself. Giving a nod to one another, the two men turned themselves back towards the edge Leader had been shouting to to find a good-looking starting point for their new game. But they were surprised to find a different sight.

Coming through a small portal...was the face of a familiar dragon.

* * *

 _"So, I've been wondering...About what you said in that park..." Jack glanced over to Ash walking beside him on the dirt path, easily predicting where his thoughts were going. "...Making a change in this world...Something that helps pokemon worldwide from people like abusive trainers...What's your reason for wanting to do it?"_

 _"Something tells me you already know that, Ash," Jack chuckled, his companion looking slightly troubled._

 _"...So that is it, then?"_

 _"...None of us live forever. Being born and abandoned at a hospital, nurses and doctors refusing to tell me what my actual health is like, it's a living nightmare. I did actually manage to sneak a look at one of my checkup records once, but seeing as how I was - what, maybe six or seven? - at the time, it's not like I understood what it meant. Hell, I don't even remember the name of it now...I just tried not to think about it..."_

 _"...But...Why something so big?"_

 _"I've been stuck in a hospital my whole life. I want to see the world. I want to travel. I want to have battles with trainers. I want to make friends. I want to do something that makes people actually_ want _to know who I am instead of being just another stranger..." Ash watched as the man tucked his hand inside his vest, pulling something out. A small red notebook. Jack smiled, flapping it back and forth gently. "...I've wanted to write a novel, actually, for a few years now. Being in the hospital for so long with nothing to do, I kind of had to rely on reading to stay sane. And some of the stuff I read...it just got me. Never did have any ideas worth writing about, though...But that doesn't mean I'm giving up on it..."_

 _"...Hold on," Jack felt himself stopped, Ash's hand on his shoulder. "...Let's go this way for a bit. You mind?"_

 _"Uh...No, not really..." Jack replied, unsure as he followed Ash down another path. Instead of leading back towards their resting pokemon, they instead took the split path that led towards a mountain pass. Coming a short distance up the hill, rocky terrain beginning to form beneath them and rocks beginning to jut up on either side of them as the path turned along the side of the base of the mountain, Ash stopped. Looking around, he saw the side of the mountain's base to one side as a wall, and to the other side was an open view down over the path they had traveled from the town. "This should do. Nobody's around."_

 _"Ash, what are you talking-"_

 _"We're going to make your dream a reality."_

 _"..."_

 _"..."_

 _"...Huh...?"_

 _"You heard me. I agreed to helping you with your liberation plans, and now I'm telling you I am_ definitely _going to help make it happen," Ash told him, Jack tilting his head with a confused look on his face._

 _"...You're really willing to do this? Just like that?" he asked, Ash giving a brief shake of his head._

 _"You're family now, Jack. And family can't turn their backs on one another," Jack could only stare in awe at the man's words. He was actually helping him? "It wouldn't even matter if we had to become criminals to do it, I would still make sure it happens. Whatever you dream, I will do everything in my power to help you."_

 _"...Seriously...?" Ash gave a nod. "...No questions?" another nod. "...Even if it was something bad...?"_

 _"Absolutely," Ash told him, flashing a smile. Jack now had a sinking feeling in his chest, his eyes glancing away from his friend's. Ash gave a curious look at this action._

 _"...No matter what, you would help me...? Even if it was terrible...or it hurt you...?" Jack asked, Ash's confusion growing._

"Hurt me...?" _Ash couldn't help but wonder what he meant by that. How would liberating pokemon hurt him? The possibility of going to prison, like some foolish and ignorant Team Plasma grunts in the past? But Ash wondered if that was really the extent of his words' meaning. Was it that simple...or was there something further he wasn't seeing...? "...Jack...What exactly is your dream?"_

 _"...If I had ever said that out loud, they would've transferred me from that hospital to a psych ward..." Jack chuckled weakly, Ash starting to grow concerned. He moved towards him, putting a hand on his shoulder as he continued to refuse to make eye contact._

 _"Jack..." slowly, he looked back up. There was no hesitation in his eyes. No happiness like there had been even just a few minutes ago. No warmth. Just pain._

 _"...I hate this world, Ash...I hate people who hurt pokemon. I hate people who insist that they're tools to control. I hate people who think pokemon are just things to use or living weapons to pit against one another for profit or destruction. I hate how people can get away with anything in this world, whether it's pollution or clearing forests for cities or abandoning their_ family _! I hate everything about them!"_

 _"...Jack...?" Ash's eyes grew in size, just as the worry did in his heart. Jack's eyes still showed no hesitation. These words were not just being thrown about. They had purpose._

 _"...I hate...I hate those trainers...I hate that trainer from the other day...I hate criminals...I hate businessmen who wipe out an entire habitat without blinking...I hate...I...!"_

 _"You hate_ him _..." Ash felt almost as if he were betraying Jack as he spoke those words. It wasn't really a betrayal, but something inside of Ash didn't feel right about saying it. And yet...he felt like they needed to be spoken. Those were the words Jack wanted to say. Those were the words he_ knew _he had in his heart. In the past, Ash had come across a few moments where he had thought the same thing seeing as how he never knew his old man either. Which is why he must have also felt the need to say it for himself as well. They were talking about the same man, after all._

 _"...Yes..." Jack muttered quietly, lowering his head again. "...This world...this world is so beautiful...amazing...pokemon thrived on this planet...This was_ their _world...before humans got greedy...before humans claimed everything for themselves..." Ash could only stare in worry at the man, knowing that his own voice would be caught in his throat if he tried. Granted, Ash had similar thoughts at a few points in his past...but they were never as detailed as this. As thought out. As...personal. "...I'm guessing you feel like you're talking to a whole different person now, huh...? ...A monster...I guess maybe it was fate that I was doomed to not live as long..."_

 _"Stop," Jack smirked weakly to himself. "Don't talk like that about yourself. You deserve a long and happy life just as much as any other person, if not more. You care more about pokemon than anything, you've suffered more in your time than anyone should, so don't you dare call yourself a monster for thinking that. You can think whatever the hell you want and not give a damn what anyone else thinks because their opinion doesn't matter!"_

 _"Except yours..." Ash cringed. Jack raised his head, a weak smile on his face. "...Your opinion matters, Ash. I know it sounds stupid because we just met, but you're now the best person in my life. You've listened to me. You're not judging me despite how dark my mind is. You're my_ brother _, man...Of course I care what you think, I care more than anything right now...I just..." Jack trailed off, biting his lip and turning away as he felt his emotions begin to get the better of him. Surprised, he felt a pair of arms around his shoulders._

 _"...It's okay, Jack...You're not alone anymore...You will_ never _be alone anymore..." and in that moment, Jack's will had finally broken. It had been so many years since he last remembered the feeling of tears running down his face. But oddly enough, it felt nice. It felt as if the mother of all burdens was just lifted off his shoulders and he was finally free of an indescribable prison. A cell in which he had been all on his own, with no one around him, for so long. As Ash turned the man in the embrace so that they faced each other, he felt Jack's tears quickly dampen the shoulder of his shirt. But it's not like he cared._

 _"...I...I don't want to lose anyone...I just want friends...I...I want...family..." Ash smiled as the man's sobs were barely understandable into his shoulder, but again, he didn't care. He may not have known Jack's pain, but he did know that he was going to keep Jack the promise he made. He was going to keep any promise he_ could _make. "...Please...Please never...never leave..."_

 _"...I'm always here, bro," Ash whispered, patting the man's back. Unbeknownst to Ash, Jack's lips spread into a smile against the fabric. A few moments later, Jack was a step away from Ash, his back to him as he quickly rubbed his arm across his eyes, Ash watching him with an amused look. Jack turned his head, a look of shame on his face as he glanced at the ground beside him._

 _"...Please forget that happened..."_

 _"Something tells me I won't," Ash chuckled in response, Jack giving a sigh of defeat. "...And I was being serious, Jack. I'm here for you, as your friend...as your brother...and as a partner."_

 _"...Partners, huh...?" Jack gave a weak smile to himself as he looked up to the sky above them. "...That does have a nice ring to it..."_

 _"So then...What's your plan, boss?" Jack glanced back to Ash, who was giving a wide and seemingly-teasing grin. "It's your dream, after all. Call it and I'll do what I can."_

 _"...Ash..." Jack felt no words come to his mind. His mind had drifted from Ash's question to something else. Something he had said. Feeling his lips spread into a smile, he realized something. Ash was surprised to see Jack shake his head. "...Not yet. Not before we settle a few things."_

 _"Settle? What are you talking about?" Ash asked curiously, Jack beaming as he crossed his arms behind his head._

 _"I got a few conditions. Call them my terms of agreement to our new partnership," Ash arched an eyebrow, watching Jack with curious eyes. "I've been thinking about something, these past few days...I think we should at least try to get some others in on this."_

 _"You wanna bring others in?" Ash asked, Jack giving a nod. "What happened to 'worth a shot' with just the two of us?"_

 _"Well, I'm not saying either of us are weak or anything...Just thinking that the world is a big place, you know? Might be a_ bit _of a stretch to try to make change all across the globe with just the two of us," Jack chuckled, Ash pondering on his words._

 _"...Alright. Once we get moving, I'll see if I can find anyone-" Ash paused, a smile spreading to his face. "...Yeah. I bet I can find the right kind of people to help."_

 _"Cool. That was actually kind of a bonus thing, so starting with term one..." Jack trailed off, running a hand through his short hair as he looked out over the edge of the mountain trail. "For anyone we meet...I don't think we should talk about the truth between us. It's not that I'm ashamed of it or anything, believe me, I'm ecstatic about it-"_

 _"You...don't want people knowing about us being brothers?"_

 _"...Well...yeah. Like I said, I'm not trying to be rude with it, it's just...Well, it's not like people_ have _to know the truth, right? We can just play if off as being friends or something."_

 _"...I admit, I'm still curious as to why...but okay. I can agree to that."_

 _"Thanks...And hey, we don't have to lie_ entirely _. I mean, we could play it off like we're still related somehow...How about me being your nephew? I think people would buy it, considering me and how you look kinda-" Jack stopped, a fear taking control of his muscles as he noticed a dark look begin to grow in the man's eyes. He laughed nervously. "...Or...maybe not...Just a suggestion. Maybe it'll grow on you."_

 _"I doubt that..." Ash said with a quiet sigh, looking back to Jack expectantly. "So, what are these other agreements?"_

 _"Regarding the plan...I'm definitely all for pokemon liberation and all...but..." Ash watched the man give a hesitant look as he scratched the back of his head. "...What I was saying earlier...There..._ is _something else that I dream of...Even if I know you would never agree-"_

 _"Of course," Jack stood in silence. Moments passed as neither men said another word, then Jack's eyes widened on Ash. "I could tell those words weren't just a saying or venting. I know."_

 _"...You...You can't be serious...?" Ash nodded. "...But...Do you realize what I mean? Are you actually thinking the same thing I am? You can't possibly-"_

 _"I am, and I will help. As long as I can do something on the side that_ I _want to make a reality," Jack's brow furrowed in confusion. "...I'm gonna do everything I can to try and help you with your health, Jack. No matter what."_

 _"...Ash..." Jack felt his lips break into a smile, shaking his head in amusement. "...Guess I got no problems with that."_

 _"Also, I don't want Pikachu to know about that either," Jack arched an eyebrow, looking surprised. "He's been my best friend since I ever first left home...There's no way I could let him know we're planning something like that, he would never go along with it..."_

 _"...But...If you go along with it, then...Pikachu and you will..." Jack couldn't finish his thought, noticing Ash give a brief shake of his head._

 _"...Like you said, pokemon are better off without humans causing damage to their world...their homes..." he said, ignoring the sharp pain in his chest. "So, what else is there then?"_

 _"Something...a little more important..." Ash arched an eyebrow again. "...If we do get some more help on this...I want you to not say anything about my health."_

 _"What?" Ash retorted rather quick, Jack giving a smile as he closed his eyes. "But...Why?"_

 _"Come on, Ash, think about how you reacted," Ash cringed, recalling their earlier conversation. "I know you don't want to tell me, but I can tell you felt sorry for me. You pitied me for what I had been through. I don't want to have that with others, if I can...So I don't want others to know about it..."_

 _"...Okay...I guess I would probably think the same way if I were you," Ash said slowly, crossing his arms across his chest as he saw Jack beam a smile at him. "But, for that one, I have a condition of my own."_

 _"Eh? What's that?" Jack asked, giving him an odd look. He watched Ash's expression grow much more serious, taking a step towards him._

 _"...If you ever feel like your health is getting worse, you tell me. And I mean_ ever _. You tell me everything along the way, and never keep it from me. Got it?"_

 _"..."_

 _"..."_

 _"...Heh...You're just a big softy under that shell, huh?"_

 _"Shut up..." the pair of men broke into smiles, Jack holding his hand out to Ash._

 _"Then I'll do that on one more condition," Ash gave a puzzled look. "...If my health_ does _eventually get worse...If there's no sign of you being able to help with it...I want you to stand by me. I don't want you to fight it. I just want you to be with me, not as someone trying to stop it...but as a friend...a brother..."_

 _"...Jack..." Ash felt a pain in his chest at the words. His thoughts began to drift towards the possibility of this scenario actually occurring in their future, and the longer he considered it, the more his chest hurt. "...Only because it's you...And only as long as you keep up your end of the deal...then I will..."_

 _"...Done deal. I'll let you know if my health ever feels different. And we'll not speak a word about being brothers."_

 _"Right. And I'll never say a word to potential recruits about your health."_

 _"Cool. So I guess that makes us- Oh, wait! I just thought of one more thing!"_

 _"Honestly...? How many things could you possibly worry about with this?"_

 _"It's not a big worry, more like something that I just...want. Consider it a personal favor to me?" Ash eyed the man carefully, feeling cautious of his bright and innocent-looking grin._

 _"...What?"_

 _"Well, I did mention this when we first met..." Ash narrowed his eyes on Jack as he watched him cross his arms behind his head again, still beaming. "And since I'm not exactly cut out to be ordering others around..." Ash expected the man to finish his sentence, but no words followed. He only received an expectant look from Jack, his grin growing wider._

 _"...You want me to be the head of this plan?"_

 _"Well...That phrasing sounds kinda dumb, but yeah, that's the point of it," Jack moved towards Ash, slapping a palm against his back. "Come on, man, you gotta admit. You've got the attitude to call the shots, and if we get others in on this, it's not like they'll take me seriously with the way I am. So in a way, it's like it's_ gotta _be you."_

 _"...That is by far, the worst logic you have given to me yet..." Jack laughed as Ash's calm but honest words. Ash shook his head, rubbing the arch of his nose between his eyes in disbelief. "...You are serious, aren't you? You really want me to lead?"_

 _"Of course, you will make a great-" Jack stopped, his thoughts bringing something interesting to his attention. Ash arched an eyebrow, watching a grin spread across the man's face once more._

 _"What's that look about...?"_

 _"...Leader...You'll be a good leader..."_

 _"...Why are you saying it like that...?"_

 _"Well, if we_ do _end up becoming criminals with this...Might be better to use a codename rather than your real name..."_

 _"...Leader? You can't be serious, that is the most unoriginal thing you could possibly have chosen."_

 _"Eh, who knows. Maybe it'll grow on you."_

 _"Somehow I have difficulty seeing that happening, too..."_

 _"Well, the real biggest difficulty is gonna be explaining our plan in a friendly and convincing way..."_

* * *

"...No way..." Jack muttered to himself, eyes wide in surprise as he watched the sight in front of him. Emerging from the portal rippling around it, the dragon's body began to revert back to its original form, the serpentine figure hovering in the air as its red eyes stared down at the men on the island.

"Giratina...You heard me..." the dragon's eyes narrowed on Leader, noticing the dragon give a slight nod. "...Then please...You have to help me get Jack out of here. I know Arceus commands you and you don't want to betray it, but you have to let him go! He's in bad condition and he can't stay-" Leader's voice stopped, the dragon opening its mouth and emitting a shrill screech that pierced the two men's ears. The Distortion World inhabitant turned its body in the air, moving away from them in a serpentine pattern as it began to shrink in their eyes past the floating islands. "...What...? Wait, Giratina! Hold on!"

"Leader..." Jack put his hand on Leader's shoulder, but the man shrugged him off.

"Giratina, get back here! You have to listen to me!" Leader shouted angrily, desperately trying to get the dragon's attention. He noticed it pass a chunk of land as it headed back in their direction, but still kept its distance from them while keeping its eyes on them. "...You came to toy with us...You're just here to _watch_ us, aren't you?! To stand by as we suffer, just like Arceus told you to!"

"Leader!" Leader gritted his teeth, his eyes glancing over to the purple sphere in his hand that was currently positioned back over his shoulder, the only thing keeping him from throwing it being Jack's hand holding it back. "Come on, man, stop this! Giratina won't listen to you!"

"That's why he'll have to listen to Zekrom, then!" Leader snapped back, neither men noticing as the dragon's head emerged in front of them from below, its eyes narrowing on the purple sphere in his hand. As Leader finally noticed the dragon, his grip on the sphere tightened.

"Keep your promise, Ash..." Leader froze. His mind flashed back to the discussion they had that seemed so long ago. Their agreement. The terms they had each made. The muscles in Ash's face slowly began to relax, as well as the grip of his hand, as a solemn look came over his face.

"...Jack...You know I can't do this...not like this..." Leader muttered, the man behind him smiling weakly to himself as he glanced over to the dragon before them. "...I can't...give up..."

"It's not giving up, man..." he chuckled, taking his hand off the master ball and letting it drop back to his side. "...It's just accepting the future...We both knew that when we started all of this..."

"...But I will not accept it..." Jack gave a confused look as he noticed Leader step away from him, stopping his feet on the edge of land as close to the dragon's face as possible. Its piercing red eyes stared down at him, the man staring back for a few moments before exhaling deeply. Pulling one foot back and resting his knee on the ground, he bent his opposite knee and positioned it the same as his other, holding his fists out on the dirt in front of him as he lowered his head.

"L-Leader...?" Jack's eyes widened at the sight of Leader, the man who had built so much respect in his friends, now bowing before the dragon as if in prayer.

"...Please, Giratina..." he muttered, gritting his teeth as he dropped his forehead against the dirt, the dragon continuing to stare at him silently. "...Please help him...I need to help him..." Silence. Followed by more silence. It was almost painful for the two men as neither of them uttered another word, and the dragon didn't budge. Jack's expression softened.

"...Leader...He's not gonna-" Jack was cut off as they both flinched, another ear-piercing screech ringing through them. Their eyes shot to the dragon, who quickly flew away into the air below them and disappeared from their sight. Leader's fists tightened on the ground, his teeth grinding together in frustration before hearing another screech, this time behind them. The two men turned around to see the dragon behind them, firing a beam of energy into the air in front of Leader. The beam stopped as it opened a portal, the other side connecting it in their world coming clearly into view. But this sight made Leader and Jack's hearts sink in their chests.

Spear Pillar was in ruins. Not its usual state...but destroyed. A desolate wasteland of rubble.

"...What...?" Neither Leader nor Jack could conjure any sensible words at the sight in front of them. Nearly a minute passed before either of them could even consider and comprehend what they were looking at. Leader snapped his eyes away from the portal, looking back to Giratina. "...What the hell is this? This can't be real! What happened to my friends?! Giratina, where are they?!" the dragon slightly shook its head, opening its mouth and giving another screech before firing another beam of energy, this time hitting the ground beside Leader and extending upwards into another portal. All Leader could see through was white. "What is this?" Leader demanded, but the dragon gave another screech as it circled around the island before hovering above the portal, looking down at it and then to Leader. His fists clenched, he stared curiously at the dragon before his gaze settled intently on the portal.

"Leader...?" Jack asked carefully, noticing the man's fists beginning to tremble.

"...Hold tight, Jack. I promise I'll be back," before Jack could question him or even try to reach out to stop him, he watched as his friend disappeared through the portal.

* * *

Leader's feet touched down on the ground below him, but there was something off about it. It didn't feel solid. The man's eyes drifted down to see that he was not imagining it, because instead of solid ground below him, was a cloud. He glanced around, not seeing anything. "...What the hell...?" he started walking straight ahead, his eyes watching around him carefully. He was alone. Open blue sky around him, with clouds stretching out beneath his feet.

Then there was a blinding flash of light ahead of him. He quickly shielded his eyes, wincing as the light nearly burned his pupils, before quickly dissipating. Carefully taking his hands away and looking ahead with caution, his eyes widened. Instead of open space before him, now stood two pillars with a glowing golden orb positioned on top of each. And between them stood the alpha pokemon itself.

 _ **"Welcome, human...to the Hall of Origins,"**_ Leader's eyes narrowed on the god, his fists starting to clench at his sides.

"...Why did you bring me here...?" he muttered in a low tone, starting to move closer while not bothering to attempt hiding his frustration. Arceus' eyes peered ahead to him.

 _ **"Giratina seems to think you are a human worthy of my audience..."**_ Leader felt his teeth grind together, his emotions starting to flare within him.

"So you put him up to this...You made him bring me here...And you made him show me that illusion! What was the purpose in showing me that?!" the man snapped, the god's interest piqued at his words. "Are you so desperate to make me suffer to show me illusions to mess with my mind?! Answer me, Arceus!"

 _ **"...Humans...you and your temperaments..."**_ Leader watched intently with angry eyes as he watched the alpha's legs move forward, walking towards him before turning to the side a short distance from him. _**"So consumed by your emotions that you can't accept the truth..."**_

"What the hell are you talking about?!" he snapped, the god's eyes moving down to the cloud below it.

 _ **"I have shown you no illusion..."**_ before Leader could retort, he noticed the cloud disappear from beneath them. Their feet still suspended in the air, Leader's eyes moved down to see that they were far up into the sky, the world below them stretching out like a realistic paper map on a table. But this isn't what bothered Leader. The man dropped to his knees as he saw what was directly below them, a few flying-type pokemon flying across the air between him and what he was seeing.

Spear Pillar, laid waste to like the aftermath of a war.

 **END**


	5. Chapter 5

**For A Future Not His Own**

 **CHAPTER 5**

 _A few minutes after Leader & Jack escaped to the Distortion World..._

 _"Swampert, protect Meganium!"_

 _"Kommo-o, you help too!"_

 _"Come on, Meganium! Hang in there, you can do this!"_

 _"Blastoise, you have to get up!"_

 _May's mind was a mess. The desperate shouting of her friends to support their pokemon echoed around her, mixed with the sounds of explosions from the attacks of their legendary opponents reducing Spear Pillar to an even worsened condition around them. The brunette watched as Trevor's mudfish formed a blue barrier around itself and the very weak grass-type Johto starter, barely able to keep itself on its feet as Zygarde fired a Hyper Beam towards it, Swampert starting to sweak as it barely held its own against the attack. May bit her lip, frustrated at herself for the state she was in. Despite the terror around her, she couldn't focus on the battle. All she could focus on was worrying about Ash._

 _ **"Hey, hey! Now's no time for spacing out!"**_ _May looked down to her waist to notice Azelf floating away from her, a familiar object in its hands. May's hand quickly reached for it on her belt, but noticed it was gone._

 _"Wha- Hey! Azelf!" she shouted, watching the figure float towards Kyurem in battle. It pressed the button on the sphere, the beam of light bursting out and enveloping the dragon, recalling it. Azelf returned down to May's side, handing her the pokeball. "What are you doing?!"_

 _ **"You can't stay here! You have to go, too!"**_ _May gave the lake guardian a quizzical look, but the psychic-type shook its head and pushed against her back. She stumbled forward in the direction the small figure guided her, noticing each of her friends together up ahead._

 _"What do you mean? We can't just leave now!" the brunette stammered, the psychic-type continuing to push her._

 _ **"You're the one who saved him! I believe you can save the rest of us, too!"**_ _May gave another confused look as the small figure floated ahead of her as she rejoined her friends, the other two lake guardians meeting with Azelf. Uxie floated down in front of her._

 _"But we can't just leave! The legendaries won't stop! What about them?!" May's eyes drifted over to Leader's companions, still in an arduous and now struggling battle against the army of legendaries opposing them. But looking back at Uxie, all she was answered with was a saddened expression._

 _ **"...We're sorry...Please forgive us..."**_ _and with that, May saw Uxie open its eyes for the first time. She felt her mind become drowsy at the sight of its pupils giving off a light blue glow, her eyelids becoming heavy. Before she could complain any further, she felt her body drop to the ground, her mind being overtaken by slumber. And courtesy of Azelf and Mesprit, so did the rest of her friends. The three legendaries gave a nod to each other, holding their small hands or tails on each of the unconscious bodies so that they were all joined. Then Mesprit paused._

 _ **"...Go,"**_ _Azelf and Uxie gave her curious looks as the pink figure hovered away from them, the two deciding to respect her wishes and closing their eyes. Then the group disappeared in a flash. Mesprit glanced back to see that they had gone, feeling relieved before setting her eyes ahead again. The source of her last-minute decision._

 _"Braviary, rest!" Lexi called out, recalling the defeated flying-type to recover. Surprised, she felt a pair of small hands on her head, followed by an upside-down pair of eyes staring into hers. "Wah! M-Mesprit?!"_

 _"Lexi, could use a hand over here!" Trevor shouted, but earned no response from his companion. Confused, he looked over to see the small legendary holding itself over her head, its upside-down face looking at hers. He watched Lexi's eyes glance over to his, reflecting just as much confusion as he was. "Lexi...?"_

 _Then her body dropped to the ground, and they disappeared._

* * *

 _May's eyes shot open in a panic. Her body lurched upwards, then winced as she moved her hand to hold her head. Why did her head hurt? Then all the memories flooded back into her mind._

 _"Ash!" her eyes darted around in a desperate search before she recalled the memory of watching him disappear through a portal into the Distortion World, giving a sigh of relief. He was safe. She then shifted into confused mode as she recognized the unconscious figures of her friends all around her. "Wha- Guys! Hey! Come on, get up! Please be okay!"_

 _"...Five...minutes..."_

 _"I said up, Max!"_

 _"Gaah! Alright, I'm up! I'm up!" Max shouted, smacking away his sister's grip on his ear. He glared at her as he gently rubbed his ear, then his expression shifted to confusion. "...Wait...What happened?"_

 _"I...I don't know...I think Mesprit, Uxie and Azelf did something..." the brunette trailed off, the doubt in her mind starting to form an uneasy feeling in her chest._

 _"You're right, May..." the siblings' eyes were drawn behind them, unaware that someone else was awake before them._

 _"L-Lexi! You're here!" May gasped, the blonde giving a slow nod with a solemn expression._

 _"Yeah...Mesprit brought me along too..." she replied quietly, pointing over her shoulder. The siblings glanced past her, noticing the three small legendaries in a circle just as they were on Spear Pillar, eyes closed and gems glowing. "I only woke up a few minutes before you, but they're not answering anything I ask."_

 _"Hang on...Don't tell me they're trying to contact Dialga and Palkia again! Hey-!" Max had jumped to his feet and tried to hurry towards them, but he was stopped by Lexi's palm against his chest._

 _"Don't bother, you can't distract them from what they're doing," she said calmly, the boy giving her an odd look._

 _"But...But we can't just sit here and do nothing..." then Max recalled the events at Spear Pillar. He looked around. "Wait...Where's Trevor? And the rest of your friends?"_

 _"I don't think the guardians saved them," Max's eyes widened at the blonde's calm words, her eyes not leaving the three legendaries in question._

 _"What?! You mean they're still up there?!" no response. "How can you just stand there so calmly?! Your friends are battling an army of legendaries led by Arceus himself! How are you not panicking right now?!"_

 _"Max!" the boy flinched at the sudden harshness of his sister's tone, watching her hands grab Lexi's shoulders as the girl suddenly tried to charge at Max._

 _"You think I'm calm?! You think I'm not worried sick right now?!" she snapped angrily, making Max feel bad. "They may be able to handle themselves, but even they have their limits! So of course I'm panicking! That's why I'm waiting for_ them _-" Lexi pointed to the lake guardians. "-to finish so I can ask them why the hell they saved me and left my family to die!"_

 _"Lexi..." May felt a pain in her chest. She couldn't even imagine the pain that her new friend must be going through right now. The brunette stayed by Lexi's side, while Max went to gently wake up the rest of their friends._

 _ **"...I pray that you will forgive us..."**_ _the three humans eyes were drawn to the lake guardians, their eyes now open again and facing them with saddened expressions._ _ **"...I know you're worried...but I'm afraid what's done...is done..."**_

 _"...What the hell are you talking about..." Lexi's fists trembled at her sides, her teeth clenched together. "...How can you say that?! They're still up there, fighting for their lives! Take us back! Right now!"_

 _ **"We're sorry...but it's like Uxie says..."**_ _Azelf added, May eyeing the small figure curiously._

 _"Then just go there yourselves! Teleport them away like you did with us!" Lexi snapped, the three figures sharing a sad glance. Then May understood._

 _ **"...That battle...was nearly three hours ago now."**_

 _May's heart sank. As did Max's. Along with the rest of the group, who were now fully awake. But Lexi...her body couldn't react. Her mind couldn't form thoughts. It could barely comprehend what it had just heard. "...What...?"_

 _ **"When we teleported you away...Nearly three hours have passed since then. And we can already sense that Arceus has called off the other legendaries and returned to its place in the Hall of Origin..."**_ _Lexi felt her knees buckle beneath her, landing on them._ _ **"...And...we can't sense any strong presence of life at Spear Pillar."**_

 _"It can't be...They couldn't have..." Lexi's stare grew more and more blank by the second, desperately trying to convince herself otherwise of her worst nightmare._

 _"...It's my fault..." everyone but Lexi's eyes were drawn to Gary, whose fists were trembling at his sides with his head down. "...It was my idea to summon Arceus...If not for me, we never would've gone there...Ash never would have followed us there, and that battle never would have started...!"_

 _"Don't blame yourself..." May bit her lip, her hand subconsciously touching Kyurem's pokeball at her waist. "...I had a legendary to help, and I still couldn't do it...I wasn't...strong enough..."_

 _"May, Gary, don't talk like that," Dawn reassured the two, giving a worried look at the pair._

 _"...Ash and Jack escaped into the Distortion World during the battle, right?" Brock asked, his eyes resting intently on the distraught blonde. She slowly gave a nod. The man rubbed his forehead, taking a deep breath. "...Then that's where we go."_

 _"What?" Max retorted, giving the older man a confused look._

 _"...He's right," to everyone's surprise, Lexi suddenly got to her feet, smacking her palms against her cheeks. She turned towards Brock with a serious expression. "...I refuse to believe the worst. And if there's anyone who can turn this around, it's Leader."_

 _"...Right. He's faced countless legendaries, and even come back from death once or twice...I'm sure he's already got a plan in mind right now," Lexi broke into a smile, Brock sharing a smile as well._

 _"...But...How do we get there? The only way to get to the Distortion World is Giratina, and after that battle..." Dawn trailed off, her fist clutched at her chest._

 _ **"...You might not have to go there. Your friend has come back...and is at the Hall of Origin, with Arceus,"**_ _everyone's eyes widened, looking at Uxie in disbelief._

 _"What?! Ash is with Arceus right now?!" the legendary trio nodded. "Then we have to get there, right now! We can't just let him face it alone!"_

 _ **"There's no need...because there's another way that you can help,"**_ _everyone gave Mesprit a confused look, before the small figure smiled to them._ _ **"...You can save your friend. Stop him from letting any of this come to be."**_

 _"...But...How do we-" Gary's voice cut short as the answer appeared clearly before them. Behind the trio, opened a portal. And as it expanded, the blue dragon that hovered through nearly stopped each of their hearts._

 _ **"It's okay,"**_ _Mesprit told them, noticing their horrified expressions at the sight of the deity that they were recently engaged in battle with._ _ **"We explained everything. He apologizes for having to fight you on Spear Pillar, but...with Arceus appearing himself, Dialga didn't really have a choice,"**_ _the dragon gave a slight nod, lowering its head to the ground and giving a quiet grumble. May and the others shared nervous glances, before Lexi stepped towards the dragon surprising the others. The blonde ignored the fear in her heart, taking a deep breath before stopping directly in front of the dragon's forehead. Slowly, she extended a hand out, gently pressing her palm against its skin, earning another gentle rumble from the dragon._

 _"...You govern the power of time...including the ability to travel whenever you please..." the dragon blinked its large red eyes. "...Will you really help us stop Arceus?"_

 _ **"Not exactly..."**_ _Lexi glanced over curiously to Azelf, who gave a nod to the deity of time. Dialga nodded back, its eyes flashing white as a strange visible blue energy rippled around its head. At the same time, a blue circle glowed on the ground around the group, surprising them as a white wall of energy shot up around them from the circle._

 _ **"Dawn!"**_ _the blunette looked through the energy to see Mesprit hover close to the circle, but remaining outside it giving her a serious look._ _ **"We'll handle things here and help your friend. You focus on making a difference to save him."**_

 _"W-Wait a-!" but before Max could utter his distressed words, the group disappeared in a brilliant blue flash. Mesprit turned back to Azelf and Uxie, giving them a nod before looking up to Dialga._

 _ **"...They can do this. I believe in them,"**_ _Mesprit told the dragon, who gave a brief nod. The four legendaries turned towards the mountain in the distance, starting their airborne journey with their eyes focused on the clear sky above it._ _ **"...Now let's go help their friend."**_

 _ **"Right!/Indeed."**_

* * *

May's eyes fluttered open slowly and cautiously. Her body still tensed up defensively, she started to take in the sight of her surroundings. It only took a few moments before she recognized where she was, her mind overcome with confusion.

"...Viridian City...?"

"May..." the brunette turned her head to see her younger brother standing behind her, looking around with a worried look. "...What...just happened...?"

"...I...I don't know..." she said, looking around oddly at the Kanto city around her despite having just been standing in the Sinnoh region a few seconds ago.

"We might have an idea," everyone looked curiously to Brock and Dawn, who shared a worried glance as the man noticed a trashcan a short distance from them. He moved towards it, noticing a newspaper inside and carefully taking it out. Straightening the paper, his eyes found the date at the top. He gave Dawn a nod.

"I thought so..." she replied slowly, the others giving her a confused look. Brock held up the newspaper.

"This was dated almost three years ago."

"Which means Dialga sent us back in time."

"...Eh?" Max blinked. Gary took the newspaper from the older man, confirming the date for himself. "Wait...This is the _past_?"

"This newspaper alone isn't proof enough of that," Gary told the pair, who glanced at each other.

"Gary, we've traveled through time before. More than once, in my case. It _is_ possible. Why else would the lake guardians have gotten Dialga's help specifically?" Brock asked, the researcher not having an answer for that.

"Guys...They're right," everyone looked to Misty, who was moving towards a store's display window. Inside, there was a TV playing a particular news report of a water-type gym leader.

 ** _And here we are at the Cerulean City gym, home of Misty Waterflower, who has now become the youngest gym leader to go undefeated for over an entire year! This is certainly an outstanding feat, and we will be back with an exclusive interview with Misty on this accomplishment after we come back from weather._**

"This report...that interview...That happened almost three years ago, _before_ Ash disappeared," the redhead explained.

"So...Dialga sent us back in time..." Max muttered in disbelief.

"Like I said," Dawn added, putting her hands on her hips and glancing over to Brock. "But...why would he send us here?"

"There must be something about this date in Viridian City. Maybe something with Ash..." Gary looked down at the newspaper's date again, trying to think back to any big events he had seen on the news in the past years. But nothing came to mind. "What would it be, though? What happened on May 1st?"

"...May 1st...?" May felt an aching pain in her chest, her hand clutching at her shirt over the pain. Lexi noticed this. "...May 1st...Almost three years ago..."

"May?" Lexi asked carefully, giving a concerned look to the brunette. The Hoenn native moved her hand over her mouth, taking a few deep breaths, before letting it drop to her side again. She stared at the newspaper.

"I think I know why we're here..."

"Wha- May?" before they could question her, the girl had started walking away. The rest of the group hurried after her, following her down the street until she stopped behind the corner of a building, peeking around the corner. "May? What are you doing?"

"This is why we're here..." the group curiously peeked around past her to notice a small café across the street. And it didn't take them long to notice a particular pair sitting together at a table outside.

"Is that...?" Dawn asked quietly, the brunette giving a slow nod.

"...It was our last date...The last day I ever saw him again..." her voice almost cracked towards the end of her words, the brunette taking another deep breath as she forced the sad memories out of her head. Lexi's worry for her grew, looking over curiously to the younger version of Leader, whose hand was holding younger May's on the table as they both sipped their drinks while having a conversation. Occasionally, younger May would laugh while younger Ash would give an embarrassed glance away, before talking again and the same happened with their roles reversed.

"...You...both seem so happy..." Max muttered, glancing in concern to his older sister. The brunette smiled weakly as she watched her past self interact on the date in her memories.

"...Yeah...We were...Up until any second now..." May closed her eyes, turning away from the scene as she wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. Dawn and Misty turned away to console their friend, Lexi also wanted to but she was suddenly overcome with sympathy at what happened next.

In just a few short moments, the young couple was surrounded by news reporters and cameras like discarded food targeted by a flock of wingull. The two jumped to their feet and attempted to hurry away from prying eyes, but the reporters left them with no escape path. Lexi's heart sank as she watched the young pair struggle against the onslaught of camera flashes and questions, unaware that her body began moving towards the scene past the corner. Soon, she began to register the questions bombarding her friends' past selves in her ears. And what she heard sent her mind into flashbacks of her own public suffering on that performance stage that now seemed so long ago.

"How long have you two been dating?"

"Is this a publicity stunt for one of you to piggyback off the other's higher fame?"

"Aren't you worried the world might not accept a trainer-coordinator relationship?"

"Hoenn Princess May, is this because your father is a gym leader and forced you to find a relationship with a trainer?"

"Miss May, rumors of you and your rival Drew have begun spreading that the two of you are dating and Drew has not denied these rumors! Are you, in fact, cheating on him at this very moment?"

"Mr. Ketchum, are you okay with yourself breaking up a relationship for your own desires?"

"May, May! Have you gone further with Mr. Ketchum than you have with Drew?"

Lexi clenched her teeth. It was true that she had once been resentful towards the media for outing and ridiculing embarrassing moments to the world despite the suffering it caused to those involved, but this...This disgusted her. Not only embarrassing someone just trying to live their life, but a couple enjoying peace and quiet together? How could humanity have reduced to such a low state over the course of history? The blonde took another step closer as she breathed in, preparing to raise her voice to the reporters and put them in their place. But then she paused. She slowly let her breath out, thinking about the course of what she was about to do.

If she changed this event, it would change what happens with Leader and May from that point on in their lives. Maybe they never separate afterwards. Leader never leaves her and goes on to find the others. To find her...She would never meet Leader...

Fists clenched at her sides, Lexi hated herself for turning away. She knew it was wrong to succumb to her selfish desires, but she knew changing that event would also change May's memories. And who's to say they wouldn't become worse? Perhaps it was better she didn't risk it. Rejoining the group, Lexi immediately hugged May.

"...I'm sorry, May...I know how hard that is..." she whispered, the brunette glancing at her with sad eyes. She returned the hug.

"...Thanks, Lexi..." she whispered back, the pair pulling apart with weak smiles.

Then the world around them flashed blue, blinding them.

* * *

May and the others opened their eyes again to realize they had been transported to another location. Another one that they recognized.

"We're...home..." Max uttered, taking in the familiar sight of Petalburg City. Brock glanced around, noticing another trash bin with a newspaper inside.

"Let's see..." he muttered, taking it out and finding the date. "January 18th...Huh...This one was dated this year. Then this...this was only six months ago," he stated, glancing around for anything of interest that could catch his attention. But there was nothing special, just a few citizens walking around on a normal day in Petalburg.

"Six months ago..." May put a finger to her chin, her thoughts travelling back through her memories. Lexi gave her a curious look. "...But...If that's true, then...this is when-"

"My goodness, dear! It's May!"

The brunette blinked, her attention perked at the distant and tired-sounding voice. Everyone in the group looked over to see an elderly couple, slow in their pace on their way towards them, a pleasantly surprised expression on both of their faces.

"M-Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, hi there," the brunette greeted politely, clearly not expecting anyone to approach them. And certainly not someone from her past.

"It's so good to see you out and about, dear. When we first heard from your parents that you had been holed up in your room for days, we were so concerned," this caught the whole group's attention, immediately looking to May in question. Except for one other member of the group. "Oh! And Max, you're here too! We thought you were still in Johto on your journey?"

"Oh, uh...Yeah, I was, but...I decided to surprise Mom and Dad with a visit home," the young teen stammered, hoping that the first thing that came to mind would work well enough.

"Ah, that's so sweet of you, young man. I'm sure your parents must be thrilled to have you home again. And you're even spending time outside with your sister, you're such a little sweetheart," the boy lowered his head to hide his embarrassment, a quiet groan audible from his friends close to him. "May, dear, we do hope you know that we're always here if you ever need anything. Even just someone to talk to, you can always come to us."

"Of course, Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, thank you. I just...needed some time to myself for a while...I needed to clear my head a bit and focus on some...things..." the brunette said softly, rubbing her arm. Lexi eyed her curiously. The elderly couple smiled to each other.

"Well, the two of us are heading home now. Always feel free to stop by," and with an exchange of simple waves, the Petalburg siblings bid farewell from their elderly neighbors as they continued on their way down the street. Everyone's eyes immediately focused on May and Max.

"May..." the brunette quietly sighed to herself. She knew she couldn't avoid it forever, but she never had thought about how to approach this situation when it would come. "What did they mean, 'holed up for days'...?"

"...It's not that I didn't want you guys to know, I just...I knew you would worry," the brunette rubbed her arm nervously. "...The truth is, six months ago...I was trying to continue with my contests, like usual, trying not to let Ash's disappearance get the better of me...but...I couldn't avoid it forever, and the depression caught up to me...so I locked myself in my room."

"For days?" Misty asked in surprise. The brunette glanced at the ground, embarrassed.

"...More like...weeks," she admitted, surprising her friends. "I had tried so hard not to let Ash leaving bother me...but I just couldn't. I really tried not to worry anyone, but six months ago, one day it hit me like a ton of bricks..."

"I remember hearing this while I was in Johto..." everyone glanced over to the brunette's younger brother, who looked ashamed. "Mom and Dad told me that something was going on with you at home, but...I never knew it was like that...I'm sorry, Sis..."

"Don't worry about it, Max...Like I said, that's why I never told any of you. I didn't want anyone more to worry about me," the Hoenn native tussled her sibling's hair with a smile.

"So, if Ash had already disappeared before this point...Then why would Dialga send us here?" Dawn asked, glancing around at their surroundings hoping for some sort of clue. The others in the group did so as well, except May and Max, who gave each other worried looks.

"If you say you wouldn't come out of your room for weeks, then..." the younger sibling started, the brunette looking into the distance where the old couple had disappeared to earlier.

"...Then something could have happened without me knowing..." May thought aloud, Gary having a thought.

"If that's the case, then maybe we should avoid your house. And get you two some kind of disguise," the others gave him a curious look. "If the May from this point in time is still locked up in her room, and Max should be in Johto, it might cause trouble if their parents at this time hear from someone else that they saw either of them walking around outside."

"Good point...There's a clothes shop nearby, I think they have hoodies," May said, the blunette putting a fist against her chest with a smile.

"Leave it to me, I'll get the cutest one!" she exclaimed, Misty rolling her eyes.

"We need discreet, Dawn, not cute."

"...Fine...A little bit of both."

"Just please hurry..." May told her, the blunette hurrying off with a nod. It was only a few minutes later before Dawn returned, a pair of surprisingly discreet hoodies in-hand. She handed one each to May and Max, the siblings slipping them on and raising the hoods, keeping their heads low so their faces wouldn't be recognized. Walking down the path through the small city, the group discussed what their objective in this time could be, before something startled them. A group of voices that gave them the very answer they were looking for.

"How many times are you gonna embarrass yourself like that, man?"

"Oh, so being considerate and holding a door for a lady is a _bad_ thing now?"

"When you make it obvious with where your eyes are looking, yes."

"Trevor's right, man, you're an idiot."

"Oh, come on! You saw how hot she was! How could I not hold the door for her?"

"Then why the hell did you let the door close for _me_ , huh?!"

"Well duh, the oven's gotta look nice but it's gotta cooperate and work well- Ow, _OW!_ Dammit, Krys', let go of my arm! Leader, help!"

"Enough. Any more headaches from you two and I _will_ start having Pi deal with you, understand?"

Everyone in the group froze. There was no doubt about it. And looking past the far corner of the shop, walking into view from a connected trail around the corner...was Leader and his friends, having their fun without a care in the world.

* * *

 _Present_

Jack sighed to himself for the fourth time. The silence was starting to get into his head, and it was not having a pleasant effect. On most occasions from the past two years of his life, he would have taken the chance for complete silence to himself in a heartbeat: but now, in the mysteriously lifeless Distortion World...He was having second thoughts on how nice it would be.

"Man...Wants to help, so he jumps through a portal and leaves me here...Thanks, Leader, I'll catch up..." he said to himself sarcastically, chuckling weakly before his lungs suddenly compressed, erupting into a fit of coughs. And they were starting to get more violent. "Dammit...I'm not gonna hold up in a place like this..." Jack muttered, giving a frustrated glance to the distorted world around him. Not even the sound of a breeze whistled by as the islands continued to travel aimlessly through the air without purpose or logic. The only thing that Jack could meaningfully question was this world's sole inhabitant, remaining close to the side of the island that Jack was currently resting on. The man eyed the dragon cautiously, noticing its large red pupils suddenly turn their focus onto him. And yet the dragon said nothing. Did nothing.

"...Heh...So is this irony or karma?" the dragon squinted slightly, as if to look intrigued. Jack smirked, laying back on the grass beneath him and stretching his limbs out, closing his eyes. "...All this time, I've talked of doing good for the world...of fulfilling a purpose before...I couldn't...And yet in trying to save the world, I'm now left to face the rest of my time alone with the being that legends call 'the living of embodiment of death' itself..." Jack chuckled, reaching an arm up into the air above him, opening his eyes to stare at the back of his hand. "...So is that my karma for not fearing you all this time...or ironic for being the very thing that I've been trying to outrun...?"

Jack was answered with a quick screech, Giratina suddenly disappearing over the edge of the island and out of sight. Now he was all alone. He chuckled weakly to himself, closing his hand into a fist in the air, his mind drifting to something that he had always suppressed in his mind. The earliest point, and worst point, of his life he could remember. Jack clenched his teeth together.

"...You must be happy now, you bastard...I guess you were right..."

* * *

 _18 years ago, in a particular hospital..._

 _A young boy ran as fast as he could down the hallway, without a care in the world. Granted, he wasn't very fast at the age of 6, but that's where his imagination really helped. Because any day he wanted, instead of running down the hallway of a hospital, he was racing the legendary latios, or chasing after rayquaza into space, or-_

 _"Jack! What have we said about running in the halls?" the young boy groaned, dragging his heels into the ground and stopping himself. He lowered his head, hearing the familiar footsteps of two nurses coming towards him, stopping in front of him. He didn't have to look up to know they each had their hands on their hips, a disappointed look on their faces. "It's still early. You should be in bed, mister."_

 _"But I don't wanna be in bed! I'm always in bed! I just wanna go outside today!" the little boy whined, the two nurses exchanging worried glances with a quiet sigh._

 _"Maybe tomorrow, but the doctor said that you still have one day of recovery after what happened last time you went outside," young Jack frowned. If he didn't know any better (which he really didn't at his age), he would have thought that the doctor's only goal was to make his life boring. The two nurses walked the young boy back to his room, watching him hop onto the bed and conceal himself beneath the blankets, turning onto his side and facing away from them. The two nurses watched in amusement as he pretended to fall straight to sleep, something he did often and something that they knew never to fall for, but it was still a gesture of kindness to always give him hope._

 _"Yes!" he whispered to himself beneath the blankets, hearing the door to his room close. He turned over and peeked out from beneath the edge of the covers. No one. He tossed them off excitedly, making sure to be quiet as he lowered his toes to the floor off the side of the bed, tiptoeing towards the door. As he reached out for the handle, he could hear muffled voices from the other side of the door, but he couldn't quite make out what they were saying. Mustering all his knowledge from the books he had read on ninjas and stealth-like references, he slowly turned the door handle without a sound, cracking the door ever-so-slightly. He recognized the voices as the two nurses from earlier._

 _"I still can't help but feel so bad for him...He really didn't deserve what that man did..." Jack cocked his head curiously as he stared at the handle. What were they talking about?_

 _"I know...And it pains me so much that the doctor doesn't want to tell him the truth about what happened...We can't just lie to him forever that his father is coming back someday..." Jack's grip on the handle tightened. But...why?_

 _"Especially after how he left...But at the same time, it's not like we could have left him with that abusive monster, either...All those things he used to say he would do to the poor boy, I was genuinely terrified for Jack," the boy's eyes went blank. Did they...just say his name...?_

 _"I know, what kind of a father says that his own son is too weak and not worth raising? That's just barbaric, and the fact that he chose only one between_ two _sons? How could any parent even consider a decision like that?" Jack felt his knees begin to shake. His eyes started to well up. This...this couldn't be true..._

 _"Well, I suppose it's still for the best in the end, keeping him in the dark about his father. A man who is so quick to abandon his son and never come back...If he ever stepped foot in here again, I would kick him out myself," the young boy's legs now gave way, dropping onto his butt. Tears now started to flow down his cheeks freely, his lower lip quivering._

 _"Even if you say that...There's no chance that man's coming back. And even if little Jack did have any family left...he wouldn't be able to leave the hospital for very long before having to come back...so the poor kid might as well get comfortable here now..." Jack couldn't utter a sound, even if he wanted to, as he heard the footsteps of the nurses fade away into silence as they moved away from the door. And the poor boy was left in utter silence. In solitude. No one around, no friends, no family...just Jack. All alone._

 _"...Dad isn't...so...I'm really..." the boy whimpered, curling into the fetal position on the floor as tears continued to stream down his cheeks, sobbing into his knees. His eyes remained fixated on the crack of the door. A single sliver of light, in an otherwise room of darkness..._

 _"...I have...no one..."_

* * *

Jack dropped his fist angrily onto the grass beside him. "...After everything I tried...Meeting Leader...Krys'...Trevor...Mason and Webb...and Gina..." images of his friends flashed across his mind, memories of their times together, all ending with the final image of their sorrowful expressions as he and Leader were pushed through the portal at Spear Pillar. Even if he did fail in his plans...Failing to change the world...Was he truly...still alone?

Jack nearly flinched at the sudden screech of Giratina, his head turning to see the dragon suddenly dart upwards from over the side of the island. The dragon circled overhead a few times, before Jack noticed in the side of his eye an orb hovering towards the dragon slowly. Jack squinted, trying to make out the image, as Giratina angrily screeched at it as it neared them. Then Jack made out the image: a blue armored dragon, along with three much smaller but familiar figures, hovering in the air and releasing attacks. And their target was a cloud above Sky Pillar.

"Dialga...and the lake guardians...But what are they-" Jack flinched, forced to cover his ears as the Distortion World's ruler screeched again, but this one hurt Jack's ears. Jack watched the sphere curiously, his eyes widening as he noticed a fifth figure come into view: a pink and white dragon, with a legendary power rivaling the deity of time, joining in the attacks. "...even Palkia..." the man watched Giratina hover back down towards the side of the island beneath his feet, hearing it growling angrily as it remained focused on the sphere. He moved towards the edge of the land, looking up to the back of the dragon's head. "...Well what are you waiting for? An order from Arceus?" the dragon turned slightly, its piercing red eyes looking down towards the lone human. "They're clearly trying to do something out there. If you're really just Arceus' lackey, then shouldn't you be there doing something too?" the dragon glanced back towards the orb curiously, looking back at the man. "Although, I gotta wonder...Will you really just do Arceus' bidding without question? Or would it maybe be better for you to be helping them?"

Jack winced, the dragon giving another powerful screech, also releasing a beam of energy which opened a portal off the side of the island. Giratina quickly moved through the air and disappeared through the portal, Jack seeing blue sky on the other side of it, but also noticing something along the bottom. The ground of Spear Pillar.

"...My best chance, I guess!" Jack uttered, hurrying into a sprint towards the edge of the island as he noticed the edges of the portal begin to ripple. He quickened his pace, praying that the midair portal was close enough for him to reach, before pushing his feet off the ground with as much force as he could, propelling himself forward in the air towards the portal as it began to shrink. But the moment it closed, Jack had already safely passed through, leaving the Distortion World to its usual state: silent and lifeless.

* * *

Jack grunted, protecting his head as he came rolling to a stop on the cement. He dismissed the pain as fast as he could, sitting himself up and looking around. Chaos. In every direction, as far as his eyes could see, it's all there was. The ancient stone pillars in even worse condition than usual, barely any were even left standing as most of them were either reduced to piles of dust or broken into pieces along the ground. Jack's eyes searched his surroundings even more frantically, trying to ignore the devastation as much as he could as his mind focused on one thing. And with the state of Spear Pillar, he was both desperate but also terrified of what he might find.

"Pinkyyy! Trevoooor! Anyone! Where are you guys!?" he shouted, his hands cupped around his mouth in an attempt to amplify his voice. But it only echoed across the mountaintop, bouncing off the few surfaces that it could. Jack's heart began to sink in his chest. "Leeeeex! Giiiinaaaaa! Kryyyys! Come on, guys! Answer me!" But there was nothing. Not a whisper of the wind. Not a response from his friends. As if there was nothing left alive on Spear Pillar.

Until Jack heard the barely audible sound of crumbling rubble. His head shot up, looking around hopefully to find the source of the sound. Then another crumble. Jack's eyes darted in a particular direction, knowing there was no doubt it was coming from that way. He barely registered the thought to go check it out before his body began moving on its own, desperately hurrying towards the source of the sound. Hopping over a chunk of the concrete that been cracked out of the ground, he moved towards the end of a fallen pillar ahead of him, his eyes peering around the corner to find exactly what he wanted. But not in the shape he wanted.

"Come on, Trev'...!"

"I know...!"

Jack's eyes lit up as his mind registered the orange and blue-haired men ahead of him, sharing an attempt to lift a large chunk of stone off of a pile of smaller boulders. The two men grunted, eliciting sounds of pain as they heaved the boulder off of the pile, letting it crash down onto the ground. Jack took a step forward as his lips curled into a wide smile to greet his friends, before his eyes widened in horror at what he noticed next.

Where the two men had removed the boulder was now a gap, and visible through it, beneath the pile of boulders...was Gina. Jack's smile disappeared, his knees starting to get shaky as he got closer to his friends, watching the two men desperately peel more and more stones off of the girl. The longer he looked, he noticed that Gina's eyes were closed indicating that she was unconscious, and he began to notice every scratch and bruise, small or large that decorated her face and skin beneath her torn clothes.

"Jack?"

"Huh?" Mason and Trevor's heads suddenly turned around, eyes going wide as they took notice of their shaken friend that barely stood behind them. Jack's eyes turned to the side of where he viewed the two men, taking notice of the other man older than himself. Webb's face lit up as he tried to shift himself slightly, but immediately winced and hissed in pain. That's when Jack noticed a fair-sized flat strip of stone pinning his leg in a small crater in the ground, preventing him from moving.

"Webb!" Jack exclaimed as he hurried towards the man, but Webb shook his head. Jack paused, confused, as Webb pointed to the other three.

"Forget me, you gotta find Krystal! They haven't found her yet...!" Webb grit his teeth as he attempted to lift the stone off of himself, to no success. Jack looked around curiously, and true enough to Webb's word, he noticed that Krystal was nowhere in sight.

"What about Lexi? Did you guys find her already? Is she okay?" Jack asked, Trevor kneeling over Gina's unconscious body and holding two fingers against her neck.

"Don't worry about her, she was gone before this place was totaled. The lake guardians teleported her and that other group somewhere else," he explained, Jack giving him a confused look. But he shook it off quickly. If that was true and she was safe, then the most important thing was finding Krystal. Jack's eyes looked in every direction, desperate to catch sight of the girl's icy blue hair, but there was nothing. However, he did notice something else in the distance. He tried to go closer, but his knees suddenly get weak, nearly collapsing as he catches himself on a fallen pillar to his side.

"Dammit...Not now...Don't have time for this..." he muttered to himself, frustrated as he forced himself to his feet and continued towards what he had seen. And upon getting closer, his suspicions were confirmed: a glaceon and articuno, attempting to dig through rubble. "Frost! Articuno!" the two ice-types looked back, and upon seeing the man their expressions lit up. The fox wagged its tail eagerly, patting its paw on the pile of rubble behind them, the large bird cooing in agreement. Jack eyed the rubble curiously. "Alright, Incineroar!" Jack pulled a pokeball from his belt, releasing the Alolan starter evolution. Taking notice of the situation, it quickly joined in and helped Jack lift the rubble off the pile and toss it to the side, desperately digging for what the ice-types had wanted to find. And in a short time, Jack's heart nearly stopped again as he saw exactly what he feared: Krystal. And in even worse shape than Gina.

"Heeey! Jack!"

"Over here! I got Krystal!" he shouted back, clawing away the remaining rubble from around the girl and dusting off her body carefully. He held his breath, quickly pressing two fingers to the girl's neck. He breathed a sigh of relief as he felt her pulse, but it was weak. Hearing footsteps behind him, he didn't even turn around to notice Mason coming up behind him, the man's expression growing grim as he noticed the girl's weakened state.

"Oh, no..." he muttered under his breath, noticing the variety of scratches and bruise marks that plagued her entire body.

"Krystal? Krystal!" Jack urged, lightly running his finger along the girl's cheek hoping not to make the wounds on her face worse. But no response. He clenched his teeth together. "Come on, Krys'...You can't do this now, not after all this time...! This is not where this ends!"

"I'll make sure Trevor's still got Gina okay," Mason hurried away from the pair, leaving them and the two worried ice-types alone. The bird and fox cooed in concern, rubbing their faces gently along the girl's body, hoping to wake her up. Jack's fists clenched at his sides.

"...This is my fault...This wouldn't have happened if I hadn't left...! If I wasn't too weak to stop this!" Jack slammed his fist onto the ground, ignoring the pain as he lowered his head. Articuno and Glaceon looked at the man with worry in their eyes, knowing that he cared for their trainer almost as much as they did, if not just as much. "...I could've stopped this..."

"Jack! How is she?" the man glanced over his shoulder, surprised to see Mason supporting Webb as they came towards him, Webb's leg in too bad of a condition to walk on his own. Shortly behind them, but moving at a slower pace, was Trevor supporting a seemingly-unconscious Gina as her head drooped low.

"She's in bad shape, guys, even worse than Gina. You two shouldn't even be moving-" Jack was stopped as Webb smirked and held up his hand.

"Save it, you know I won't listen."

"And Gina was awake just before we moved, though she seems to be fading in and out," Trevor explained, Jack's eyes drifting to the silver-haired girl. And true to Trevor's word, the girl's head suddenly began to lift slowly, her eyes fluttering open weakly as she winced.

"...Leader...?"

"Take it easy, Gina, he's safe. Giratina opened a portal in the Distortion World and Leader came through, so he's in this world again, but I don't know where," Jack responded, the girl's eyes lazily starting to close again.

"...Safe...glad..." her voice was barely audible, but everyone could tell that she was glad to hear Leader was okay. Everyone in the group cared for him, after all.

"...I can't believe this..." Mason clenched his eyes shut, his fist clenching at his side. "...All that training...everything that Leader had helped us through- how strong we've become, and we were still done in so easily!"

"Hey, that's not what matters right now," Jack said sharply, surprising the older man as Jack looked back at Krystal's injured cheek again. "...Come on, Krys'...This isn't enough to keep you down...I know it..."

"...You said you don't know where Leader is?" Webb asked, Jack giving a nod. "...Well...At least he's safe. That's maybe the one good thing about this."

"It's not as if we're entirely in the dark about where he is..." the three men looked to Trevor curiously, who stared up into the sky with a serious expression. "It may just be a hunch...but even if we don't know where Leader is...I bet you _that_ has something to do with him," and looking up into the sky above the mountain, the three men noticed what Trevor had meant.

The deities of time and space, as well as the three lake guardians, faced off against a single opponent. The ruler of the Distortion World.

 **END**


	6. Chapter 6

**For A Future Not His Own**

 **CHAPTER 6**

 _Past_

"You cannot tell me - with a straight face - that what you're doing is any different!"

"I can, actually, because it is."

"No it is _not_! How are all the guys drooling over you any different than my luck with the hot girls around?!"

"Because guys drool over me no matter what."

"Unfortunately, she has a point there."

"Please, Gina, someone like you is the last opinion I want to hear in this argument right now..."

"Because she's an attractive woman and not on your side?"

"Shut up, Trevor!"

May and the others had been watching this go on for a while now. Ever since almost accidentally running right into Leader and his friends in the past, May and her friends had been carefully tailing them far enough away as to not be seen. And despite how entertaining their bickering was to the group, nobody was more entertained than Lexi.

"'Thank you, Trevor, you're not so bad yourself...'" the others gave Lexi a questioning look at her hushed words as she smiled to herself, watching the scene play out before her.

"Thank you, Trevor. You're not so bad yourself."

" _What_?!"

"Ah, man...These were the good days..." Lexi chuckled to herself, watching Jack begin shouting about how unfair the girls were treating him while Trevor remained silent and kept his gaze in the opposite direction of the girls.

"...You guys were...just having fun in Petalburg?" Max asked carefully, almost afraid to finish the thought. Lexi easily caught onto this, smiling as she gave a nod to him. "...But...What about Ash?"

"What about him?" she replied, the boy giving a nervous scratch of the back of his head.

"Well...I mean, just look."

"Jack, how many times have I told you to give it up?" everyone's attention was drawn back to the group of the past, where Leader was now shaking his head with a smirk. "Honestly, all you ever do is get yourself hurt."

"Shut up! Why don't you help me then?! Does blood mean nothing?!" Jack retorted, only making the others laugh.

"So fragile. You're even worse than I was when I was ten," Krystal laughed, only making Jack feel worse about the situation. He crossed his arms behind his head with a huff, casting a glare into the clouds in the sky.

"Some friends you are..." he muttered under his breath, which brought Leader to laughter. Genuine laughter. Which only brought confusion to May and the others.

"...He's...He looks..." Misty started, but almost didn't believe herself enough to finish her sentence.

"Happy," everyone glanced to Lexi, who was smiling as she watched her past self have fun with her friends. "He was happy. We all were. Because every day we spent together was fun."

"...But-"

"Because Leader wasn't ready to go through with the plan yet. Or rather, he thought _we_ weren't ready," she interjected, surprising the others. "The first day we each met Leader, he explained to us his desire for liberating pokemon from man-made confinement and how he wanted to change the world. And...among other things, we all agreed to help him, because we could all tell he wasn't a bad person."

"Wait, that's _it_?" Max asked incredulously, but felt his sister's palm cover his mouth immediately afterwards.

"You just said 'among other things'. I remember you mentioning something before...You mentioned that he saved you. That he took all of you in...But you have no idea how he met _Jack_..." Lexi stared May in the eye curiously. "...And if you were trying to use Ash's mom to track down Jack's history...You really don't know how they met or why Jack's helping him, do you?"

"...No, still not a clue," Lexi sighed quietly, crossing her arms with a defeated look.

"Wait, you don't know how Ash and Jack met?" Dawn asked, the blonde girl giving a nod. Dawn glanced back to the other group of the past, her eyes shifting between the two men in question as one laughed and the other yelled. "...I don't mean to sound rude, but...I can't even imagine how they would. I mean, they're total _opposites_ at this point."

"But maybe that wasn't always the case..." Gary pondered aloud, holding a finger against his chin. His eyes narrowed on the past version of Jack, appearing so seemingly carefree.

"What are you thinking, Gary...?" Brock asked, the young researcher glancing over to Lexi.

"...Lexi, when you met first met Ash, he had already met Jack, right?"

"Yeah, that's right. I was actually the last to join the group, and from all the stories I've heard from the others, it seems like Jack has been with Leader from the beginning. He must have been the first one to meet Leader."

"And Ash has always been the leader of the group, right? There was never a time when Jack called the shots?"

"Oh, Arceus no. We would never have survived if Jack was in charge, even for a day."

"...Then that doesn't explain what happened at Spear Pillar..."

"What do you mean?" Max asked.

"Back when we were fighting, Jack took the Azure Flute from Dawn and used it himself," everyone glanced to the blunette absentmindedly, whose expression turned to shame. "But remember, Ash started arguing with Jack at that time."

"Right. We were confused because we thought Jack wasn't going along with the plan or something..." Misty trailed off, the researcher giving a brief shake of his head.

"Which is why this doesn't add up...Ash mentioned to Arceus that Jack's ambitions would lead to war, right?"

"Yeah, I think it was something like that. Why?"

"So if Ash has been saying that he's wanted pokemon liberation, which turned out to be a lie and that he had a _different_ secret agenda, which we then learn that he's been sharing with only _Jack_ from the very start, that would mean that Ash and Jack have still been working towards the same thing while lying to Lexi and the others, right?"

"...I guess that makes sense..."

"So if they still have a common goal, then even when Jack acted on his own without Ash knowing his plan, why did Ash try to stop him?"

"Because Jack was acting on his own-"

"But that can't be it. Lexi, you say that Ash and Jack had been together since before they met you or any of the others? And that you guys always had fun together?"

"Yeah, of course. Before we ever started to enact Leader's plan, I admit, we did tend to goof off a lot..."

"So say Ash _was_ stopping Jack because of insubordination. Then why would Ash take _this_ long to get angry about it, after all the time they had spent goofing off?"

"...Huh...Now that you mention it..."

"And that also wouldn't explain why Jack would suddenly want to take the lead. Even if he had a chance to make his and Ash's dream a reality, if he's just as close and loyal to Ash as the rest of you, why would he risk crossing him?"

"Man, all of this is hurting my head...!"

"The only reason would be what Leader had said," everyone turned to Lexi curiously. "Before Jack had summoned Arceus, when he was arguing with Leader, they were talking about some agreements that they had made...And that something specific in those agreements took priority over their plans for Leader, but not for Jack."

"So...You're saying that there's something Ash wants _before_ they do whatever they're doing to start war?"

"Exactly. And because Leader was willing to stop Jack from succeeding before this other thing was done, there must be a really good reason he _needs_ this other thing to be done before making their dream a reality."

"Pokemon liberation...Then some secret plan that would bring about war...And now some other secret thing that Ash needs but Jack doesn't...Man, why can't any of this just be simple?!"

"Uh...Guys...?"

"So should we be more worried about what Jack was going to do with Arceus' power? Or about what Ash insists on doing first that Jack doesn't agree with?"

"Guys?"

"I wouldn't say we have reason to worry yet, but I do think we should put some effort into figuring out Ash's personal agenda. Maybe if he succeeds with that, then it would affect Jack somehow-"

"Guys!"

"Oh, my- What, Max?!" May snapped, shooting a glare at her younger brother. The young boy didn't look back at her, the brunette only noticing that her brother was pointing at something. She followed his gaze and saw that he had been watching the group of Leader and his friends from the past, noticing that one of them in particular was separating themselves from the rest. Which spiked curiosity in everyone.

"Where...is Ash going?" Dawn asked, watching the past version of her old friend start down the street away from his friends. She glanced briefly towards Lexi, who held her hands up in defense.

"Don't look at me, I never questioned Leader's actions," she defended, the blunette giving a frown. "None of us felt brave enough to ask - not even Jack - but I remember he said that he had something personal to take care of..."

"Wait, so who do we keep watching? Ash, or the rest?" Misty asked, her eyes shifting between the group and their leader who was getting further away by the second. And no one in the group knew how to answer.

"...Keep watching them, I'll watch Ash."

"Wha- May?" the blunette reached out for her friend as she moved away from them, pulling her hood closer against her head as she hurried after the past version of their old friend.

* * *

"What could you be doing on your own, Ash...?" the brunette muttered to herself, her eyes curiously watching the man walking a fair distance ahead of her as she hid behind a tree. She noticed him cast a quick look to either side of him, before turning a corner and disappearing. May quickly moved closer, making sure to keep herself hidden just in case of him coming back into sight, before hiding herself along the wall of the corner he had turned. Taking a deep breath, she cautiously peeked her head around the corner. And it was only in this moment that she realized exactly where she was.

She gasped, covering her mouth as she quickly drew her head back out of sight. Regaining her breath, she peeked again. Not having moved or noticed her, Leader was still standing a short distance away on the spot he stood before, fists at his side while his eyes were looking up intently at a structure in front of him. Recognizing the area immediately, May was confused as she didn't even have to check to know what he was looking at: her house.

"Ash...was at my house...?" the brunette's mind started to fill with questions. While she had locked herself away in her room, Ash had _visited_ her? Why didn't she remember this? After leaving so suddenly without a word, why would he have come here? And why did he want to keep this a secret from Lexi and the others? May knew there was only one way to get any of these answers, so she narrowed her eyes as she watched his lips start to move, focusing on her hearing.

"Just do it, idiot...This is your last chance to..." May looked puzzled as she watched his hand raise with one finger pointed towards the doorbell intercom on the brick wall that bordered their property, the corner of which being what she was currently hiding behind. His finger continued to hover, not touching the intercom as she watched his other fist start to shake as if he were frustrated. "...Dammit...I really am still just a coward..."

"Norman, dear, I'll be back soon! I'm just grabbing a few things from the store!"

May flinched at her mother's voice from within the house, as if naturally assuming that she were yelling to her. And she noticed that Leader was just as startled as he heard her voice, quickly moving away from the entrance to her home and going...straight towards her.

"Crap, no-!" May tried to back up as she pulled her hood closer to her face, tripping on her foot and landing on her butt. As she groaned, rubbing her backside with a frown, she felt her entire body freeze at what followed.

"Are you okay, miss?"

May defensively lowered her head at the familiar deep tone, making sure to keep her face hidden from view. She didn't have to look to know that the man she had been following was now standing in front of her, having stopped after seeing her on the ground. "Y...Yeah, I'm fine."

"Here, let me help you up," May hesitated, noticing his hand reach out towards her in the top of her vision. She cautiously took his hand, feeling him pull her to her feet as she kept her head low. "Are you sure you're okay there?"

"Yes, really, I'm okay. Thank you for your concern..." May's tone started to become shy, feeling odd as she thought about who she was talking to. It was the man she loved, but despite what she remembered about everything from his catching Zekrom to their encounter at Spear Pillar, none of it had actually happened according to his mind. This was a version of Ash before any of that craziness started: and might be the one and only chance she could ever have to talk to the Ash that she fell in love with.

"Well, if you'll excuse me, take care," May's eyes widened as she noticed his shadow move past her, turning her head back to watch his back start moving away from her.

"W-Wait! Wait a second!"

"I'm sorry, miss, but if you're okay, I have friends who are waiting for me-"

"Why didn't you stay to talk to her?"

"...Huh?" Leader blinked, slowly turning his head with an expression of surprise as he looked at the girl who kept her face hidden. "...What did you just say?"

"...I'm sure she would talk to you...if you had just rung the doorbell..." May started to feel nervous. Why was she saying this? She was only supposed to follow him and now she was _talking_ to him!

"...I'm sorry...but how would you know why I was there?" he asked carefully, his eyes watching the girl in front of him with suspicion. May bit her lip as she turned her head away, feeling her fist clench at her side.

"I can tell you're hurting...Something must have happened between you and that girl, right?" she asked, Leader straightening his composure.

"Look, miss...I don't know who you are, and I doubt you know who I am, so whatever reason you think you understand my situation here is not enough to convince me to trust you," the man explained, May feeling a pinch in her chest.

"You don't have to trust me...I only wanted you to know the truth. And to know that you're making a mistake if you walk away," May told him, the man's eyes starting to get darker.

"What do you mean by that?" his tone grew more terse, which almost frightened May. She held her hood close over her face, looking away as she moved past him.

"I'm sorry, but you'll get a better answer if you talk to her yourself-"

"Hold on!" May flinched, stopping in her tracks. "Why would this be a mistake? And who are you to know what's the wrong choice in _my_ life?"

"I...can't say. But walking away now will only leave that girl in pain and suffering, not knowing that you-"

"What the _hell_ do you know about my life?!" May felt every nerve in her body lock up at his raised tone. "You have no idea who I am or what I've been through! We only just met, so why are you suddenly lecturing me on what's the right choice in _my_ problems?!"

"I'm sorry..." Leader tried to calm himself, hearing the girl's voice nearly crack. Was she...sad? "I...I really am sorry...And I'm sorry that I can't explain how, but I actually know everything that girl is going through...and everything you're going through...Every feeling, every thought, every doubt...every fear and ounce of regret...I know exactly what it's like to suffer through what you have...!"

"...We're done here. And you better hope for your sake that I never see you again in the future," May felt an intense crushing pressure on her heart as she heard him take a step away, a tear starting to form in the corner of her eye.

"She needs to talk to you, Ash! Please!"

...

... ...

... ... ...

Leader didn't respond. A minute passed in silence after he had stopped moving again, brought to a halt by her words. Or rather, one in particular. But May was starting to worry since he didn't say anything for so long. He didn't even look back at her. He just stood as if her words had physically grabbed him and held him back.

"...I'm afraid you're mistaken, miss."

"...Huh...?" she then noticed his head finally move, only turning to the side. She noticed his eye look back at her, but something was...different. She had seen color in his eyes when he was with Lexi and the others, there was emotion when he stood in front of her house debating on facing his past, but now...His eyes were void of anything. There was no color, no emotion, no feeling in the slightest: just darkness.

"You have me mistaken for someone else. My name is not Ash...It's Leader."

* * *

"Come on, Krys'! Stop stealing my fries!" Jack complained, the icy-blunette flashing a grin as she chomped down another fry.

"Maybe when you grow up a little, it'll stop being so fun," she teased, the man clearly growing more frustrated, unaware that his reaction was only entertaining the rest of the group.

"Oh, so it's fun for you, huh? Playing on my misery as always?" Jack asked, noticing Krystal cast a glance in no direction in particular as she started to whistle innocently. He looked around the table, noticing that no one's eyes wanted to meet his. "Oh, come on! Someone be on _my_ side for once!"

"I'm with ya, pal!" Jack coughed as he felt a harsh smack on his back, wincing as he gave a questioning look over to Webb who grinned at him. "Although if you make this an argument about men and women standards again, you know I'm gonna take Krystal's side because you have no chance of winning."

"Thank you, Webb. See, Jack, you could learn to be a lot smarter from him," Krystal flashed an innocent smile, Jack's eyebrow giving a twitch.

"Oh, _okay_ -!"

"Jack," everyone at the table stopped at the deep voice, their eyes slowly drifting over to notice the re-appearance of their group's leader. "I don't know the topic of your useless arguing with the others right now..."

"Just being an idiot as always," Gina's calm tone saying those words so easily frustrated Jack all the more, which Leader could tell by the glare he shot in the girl's direction.

"So, Leader, did you get to settle that personal matter? Or should we find an arcade or something to cheer Jack up for a while?" Mason chuckled, the rest of the group minus Jack looking at Leader with a curious look.

"There's an arcade in Petalburg? Why are we not there already?"

"Yes, Mason...I did resolve that issue...And it helped me think about the future, and what's in store for us," Leader crossed his arms, looking up into the sky.

"The future? Wait, are you saying we're ready to finally start enacting the liberation of pokemon worldwide?" Lexi asked, resting her elbow on the table with her chin in her palm.

"I do wish I had more time to thoroughly train each of you...but sometimes, waiting too long can provide too many chances for retaliation," the man responded, the blonde furrowing her brow. "But that's not to say that I haven't begun planning our actions. It won't be much longer before we _will_ begin to take action."

"So you're saying that we still have a while longer for having to babysit this man-child here?" Webb chuckled, earning a glare from Jack.

"In that instance, I'm afraid so," Leader smirked as he noticed Jack's mortified expression turn towards him.

"If that's the case, Leader...May I make a request?" his attention was drawn to Webb. "I don't mean to sound unthankful or anything, I have definitely enjoyed our time together since I first met you...but..."

"You want to return to your life and take time away from the group."

"Wha-?" Webb blinked in surprise as he looked over at Gina, whose expression did not change in the slightest after finishing his sentence for him. "Wait...You _knew_?"

"We both did," his eyes drifted to Krystal, who was rubbing her arm with a guilty expression on her face as she looked to her side. "...We...We've actually been thinking the same thing for a while."

"You girls, too?" Mason asked, the pair giving a hesitant nod. Leader's eyes shifted to the orange-haired man curiously, who noticed his attention. "...Sorry, Leader. But Webb and I...We've certainly enjoyed having fun, with everyone here together..."

"But we feel as though something is missing as long as we're having mindless fun," Leader's eyes shifted to Gina, along with everyone else in surprise. "We had all agreed to helping you with your ambitions in changing the world, and that has not changed. But until we're actually doing something, we feel it might be better that we're not all gathered in one place all the time."

"Meaning you guys want a break from Jack."

"Hey!" Jack threw his hands up in exasperation as the group broke into laughter after Trevor's comment. Even Leader was laughing, and Gina too, which certainly proved that Jack's misery was the support that kept the group happy.

"I...I can't...Trevor, that was...too perfect..." the blue-haired man couldn't help but smile, reaching for Krystal's offered palm and returning the high-five as she hid her face from view behind her other hand. "...ha...haaaah...Oh man..."

"...Putting that aside...Webb, and Gina and Krystal..." Leader put a palm to his chest, managing to calm himself down enough to speak. "...Is that really what you three are trying to say? Do you want to go back to your old lives?"

"I-It's not that we want our old lives again! We would never leave you after all you've done!" Krystal defended, earning a curious look from Leader. She quickly noticed a similar curious look from each of the others as well, though their looks seemed a little more suspicious, which made heat rise to her cheeks. "...I-It's just...I was thinking if we had been working so hard...that we could use a little break for our efforts, or something...B-But only if you were okay with it! I would never try to-!"

"Krystal, it's okay," the icy-blunette's cheeks warmed up more, noticing the man suddenly giving a smile. "You don't have to be afraid to ask for that if that's what you want. I do appreciate all the time you've spent with us, and all the hard work you've done, so I _have_ actually been thinking of how I could reward you guys for all of your efforts..."

"Wait, you're okay with it?" Lexi asked, blinking in surprise.

"Well, even if you didn't accept us taking time off, there are plenty of other simple things that you could do to make _Krystal_ hap-" Leader's brow furrowed as Krystal suddenly shrieked, clasping her hand over the silver-haired girl's mouth as she finished her sentence in a muffled tone. Krystal's cheeks were suddenly bright red as she began to laugh a little too hard.

"Hahahahaaa! You are so funny, Gina, but I think Leader was _just_ saying that he is okay with the vacation time!" her eyes narrowed intensely on the friend she considered a sister, who calmly rolled her eyes since she couldn't respond.

"So you really are okay with this? You wouldn't be offended or anything?" Mason asked, shifting his look back towards Leader.

"Of course not. I asked for each of your help because I wanted to give you all a chance to make a change in your own lives, and choose how you wanted it to be. And since I have taken more time than I would have liked to plan for that, you are free to choose to take some time to yourselves if that's what you need," he explained, earning a smile in response from each of his friends.

"Well, you won't be seeing me leave, Leader," Trevor crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair.

"And I know you wouldn't be able to manage without me around," Jack grinned, arms crossed behind his head. Lexi sighed.

"And without Gina or Krystal, you'll need someone to help take care of this idiot," Jack gave an offended look to her, who only poked her tongue out playfully in response before looking back to Leader. "So I guess you're still stuck with the three of us."

"But we'll be back soon. As soon as you call us, Leader, we'll come running," Webb flashed the man a grin, getting a nod in response.

"Or when you guys realize that you'll miss me way too much," Jack said confidently.

"So when Leader calls us," Gina's emotionless response once again made everyone break into laughter, all except for Jack. But that was the norm in this group.

"But until that day comes, I don't expect you guys to start slacking off on your training just because I won't be with you," Leader told them, the two grown men and Gina nodding in agreement.

" _Whaaat_? Come on!" Leader smiled as Krystal began whining, noticing Gina give a quiet sigh to herself.

"You can count on me for watching over her, Leader," she said calmly, earning a brief glance from her friend beside her. Leader looked around the table at his group: the comrades he had enlisted, the friends he had made, but most importantly...their new family.

"Then I wish you all luck in your endeavors. And I hope you will be ready for the day we make our stand on the world. When we show what we are capable of, proving that the world should not have labeled us as outcasts...and teach everyone why they should fear the name Leader."

* * *

"What have they been saying...? Remind me again why we haven't gotten closer," Max muttered, casting a glance over to Brock.

"Because we can't risk them noticing us."

"But those guys don't even know who we are at this point in time, we hadn't met them yet."

"Max, do you seriously not remember that their leader is _Ash_?"

"...Ooooh..."

"Jeez, you idiot," Dawn took the liberty of filling in May's shoes as the disappointed older sister for the moment, dropping her fist on the younger boy's head. "...Although, he does kind of have a point. Ash already came back, so are we not gonna do anything here? Or even go looking for May?"

"May can take care of herself, and I'm sure since Ash just came back she's on her way too- And just like I said..." Misty stopped her point short, pointing to her side as she noticed a familiar figure in the side of her eye. The rest of the group followed her line of sight, noticing the hooded brunette slowly making her way back towards them. Though something seemed...off. "...May?"

"May, are you okay?" Lexi asked, feeling concerned as she noticed her friend's head hanging low. The brunette only looked towards the past versions of Leader and his friends, earning a curious look from Dawn.

"...May...Did something happen with Ash?" she asked carefully, but the brunette's response was quiet.

"...It's nothing..." her eyes didn't waver, focusing on the source of the emotional dilemma within her heart. The man that was once someone she loved, but now only appeared as a former shadow of him. "...Not anymore..."

Then in a split moment, the world around them flashed as time was altered once more.

* * *

 _Present_

 _ **"Giratina, please don't do this!"**_ Mesprit's pleas to the ruler of the Distortion World went unheard as the lake guardian moved to avoid the oncoming ball of blue flames, hearing the dragon screech as it charged through the air towards her. Shadows extended in the form of claws from one of its feet, but was intercepted as Palkia charged into its side.

 _ **"She's right, Giratina! We know you were only following Arceus' orders! But you know that this isn't right!"**_ Azelf got a screech in return, watching the ghost-type knock Palkia away with its tail before being hit from behind by Dialga.

 _ **"You're not a monster! You must realize that this is not all worth the death of two humans! Or any humans, for that matter!"**_ Uxie opened its eyes which flashed blue, but the inhabitant of the Distortion World gave an intimidating screech which broke the lake guardian's concentration, closing its eyes again.

 _ **"Dialga and Palkia have realized that this is not worth the fight! Neither of those humans deserve to die, and we know you must realize that too!"**_ the ghost-type charged towards Mesprit, who held its arms out with a determined expression. _**"I know I looked into their hearts and saw destruction, but I can also feel from your heart that you don't have any reason to hate them! And I know that you don't want them to get hurt or you would feel responsible, so please help us protect them!"**_

 _ **"Mesprit, look out!"**_ the pink lake guardian ignored its sibling's warning and clenched her eyes shut, refusing to move and awaiting the impact. But nothing happened. Moments passed in silence, not even a sound from her siblings or the deities of time and space. Slowly peeking her eyes open, she nearly flinched as she realized she was mere inches from the golden mask of Giratina, almost feeling pierced by the intense stare of its two red glowing eyes.

* * *

 _ **"A foolish attempt, my children..."**_ the alpha pokemon stared down at the open sky below them, its eyes focusing on the interaction of the trio of creation as well as the three lake guardians.

"How long are you going to avoid my questions?" its eyes were drawn back towards the other figure present in the Hall of Origins, the man's eyes staring intently at the god. "I asked you what happened to my friends down at Spear Pillar."

 _ **"You should already know the answer to that."**_

"Enough with the damn riddles! Just tell me they're okay down there!" he snapped, the god simply closing its eyes.

 _ **"...Barely. But yes, they are alive. No thanks to your ignorance."**_

"What was that?!" Leader's fists clenched at his sides, his eyebrow giving a twitch in anger. But the god didn't give him so much as a glance. "Arceus! I'm talking to you so stop ignoring me!"

 _ **"What is he doing...?"**_ Leader's expression changed to have room for curiosity, noticing that the alpha pokemon was once again looking down at the scene below them. Following its gaze, Leader noticed that Giratina was still hovering in front of Mesprit, not having moved for a bit. _**"...Giratina! Stop wasting time and end their insolent futility!"**_

 _"What_ is _Giratina doing...?"_ Leader couldn't help but wonder to himself as he watched the dragon simply wave its tail a little through the air, slightly tilting its body towards one of the other dragons. The man averted his attention to Dialga, taking notice in something peculiar. Particularly about the metal armor across its body. _"...Wait a sec...Is Dialga's armor...glowing? But...that happens when-"_

 _ **"So that's your plan, then...! You're playing with time again, Dialga?!"**_ Leader's eyes shifted back to the alpha pokemon, who had its head reared back as it raised its tone. _**"I will not accept your interference!"**_

 _"But...Why would Dialga be managing time right now...?"_ Leader's eyes widened as his mind began to race, but was broken from them as he noticed an intense sphere of energy starting to accumulate on Arceus' forehead.

 _ **"I will not allow you to alter time and hinder me!"**_ Leader's eyes widened further as the Hyper Beam burst from its forehead, cutting through the air towards the deity of time.

 _"Dialga can't concentrate on two points in time at once-!"_ "Dialga, move!" the man's shout fell on empty ears in the vast openness of the skies above Mt. Coronet, wondering if the reality of the Hall of Origins was somehow separate from that of the normal world where the legendaries were facing off. But as the Hyper Beam got closer to Dialga's back, the dragon didn't seem to notice, Leader clenching his teeth as he prepared to watch the dragon be hit. But it didn't happen.

 _ **"**_ **What** _ **?!"**_ the sudden bellow of Arceus nearly made the man flinch, the god's eyes narrowing angrily on what he and Leader witnessed below. In the final moment before the attack struck Dialga, another body appeared in front of it, exploding on contact. But as the smoke parted, it revealed to have no effect. _**"Do you mean to oppose me now as well, Giratina?!"**_

The dragon only responded with an angry screech, a mass of energy charging in front of its mouth before it fired it into the sky in the direction of where the previous attack had come from. Arceus didn't budge, Leader watching as the golden wheel around its body turn to a light shade of purple, the attack disappearing into thin air before making contact. The wheel then returned to its original golden color, the alpha's eyes narrowing angrily on the ghost-type below who was looking up in its direction.

 _ **"You think you're wise to defy me?! What benefit do you think will come about from this for you?!"**_ the normal-type bellowed, the ruler of the Distortion World giving another angry screech in response.

"Looks to me like Giratina is finally done with your crap," Leader's expression didn't change as he stared curiously at Giratina down below, ignoring Arceus snapping its furious eyes towards him.

 _ **"You dare to-?!"**_

 _ **"The human is right!"**_ Leader's expression turned to surprise as he and Arceus looked over, noticing the lake guardian trio floating a short distance away from them with serious expressions. And behind them, the three dragons of creation, all eying down the alpha pokemon. _**"Because Giratina has chosen to do what**_ **he** _ **believes is right!"**_

* * *

"...She should've woken up by now..." Jack repeated for the umpteenth time, his pacing starting to bother the other three men who were conscious. Whether any of them wanted to admit, they all knew they were thinking the same thing: things had gone to crap. They were a mess. Between Webb's leg being too banged up for him to walk, Gina's consciousness fading in and out, and Krystal not having come to since they found her, the three men remaining from the group were left helpless as they watched over their friends.

"Would you shut up already? Even if she _wanted_ to wake up and smack you for saying the same damn thing over and over-"

"Trev', come on...Not now..." the green-haired man grunted as he rested his head back against the fallen pillar that supported him, looking down with a pained expression at his injured leg. "Mason, I said to stop worrying. Go watch the girls-"

"Stop with that crap. Trevor and Jack are watching them, and someone's gotta keep you in line," Webb could only chuckle at Mason's response, closing his eyes. The orange-haired man looked back to Jack, who was still pacing along the side of Krystal's straightened body on the ground, while a couple feet away was Trevor kneeling beside Gina's body, who was positioned similar to the other unconscious girl.

"Jack, will you just sit still already?" Trevor snapped with a sigh, glaring at the man who would not stop pacing. Jack cast a quick glare to his companion.

"Well, excuse me for being worried about those I care about! Honestly, even _now_ you're still-" Jack stopped as he suddenly clasped a hand over his mouth, turning away from Trevor which made the blue-haired man curious.

"Oh, so now you're finally getting sick from your own stupidity? About time," the man scoffed, but became more questioning at Jack's reaction. As did the other two men.

"...Shut... _*cough*_...up... _*cough**cough*_..."

"Jack? What's wrong, man?" Mason asked, eyeing the man curiously as he continued to hold back coughs against his palm.

"It's nothing, I- _*cough**cough*_...I'm fine... _*cough**cough**cough*_..." Mason and Webb exchanged worried glances. Webb nodded towards Jack, Mason in agreement as he hurried over to the man's side as his coughing began to slowly grow more violent.

"Jack, seriously, are you sure you're-" Mason reached out and grabbed his friend's shoulder, pulling it gently. But considering he was stronger than Jack, he hadn't considered the need to hold back, so he actually pulled Jack's arm back a bit which parted his palm from his mouth. And that was what gave them the answer they were looking for: but not the one they were hoping for.

Because when Jack coughed, a splatter of blood spilled onto the ground.

"...okay...?"

"...What the hell...?"

"This is why you should- _*cough*_...stop prying so much..." Jack grunted as he held back the next cough, much to his pain. This only made his friends become more worried, but Jack kept his back to them, wincing as he looked down at the blood on his hand. _"Dammit...Why now...? Don't tell me...going to the Distortion World...made my health even worse...?"_

"Jack, you weren't even here when all that destruction was going down, so what is going on?" Jack only ignored Webb's question, wincing as he moved a hand to the side of his head.

"Sorry, guys...Even now...I still can't tell you guys the truth..." _"Damn...Looks like I have even less time now...No sense in wasting it then..."_ Jack wiped the blood on his hands onto his pants, moving away from his friends and walking towards the back end of the ruins.

"Jack? Hey, Jack! Where are you going?" Trevor called out, but Jack didn't respond. He kept his focus forward as he walked, thinking back to the when Arceus first descended. And that was the spot where his feet stopped, his head turning up towards the sky.

"Arceuuuuss! You wanted me before, so here I am! I know you can hear me, so show yourself!"

And though he couldn't see it, the alpha pokemon's eyes were focused directly on him.

 **END**


	7. Chapter 7

**For A Future Not His Own**

 **CHAPTER 7**

 _Present_

 _ **"What are the two of you planning this time, human?"**_

"Planning? We're not planning anything, he just doesn't know when to give up."

 _ **"Is that so? You humans**_ **are** _ **rather ambitious to no end..."**_

"Exactly why he's screaming up at the sky like a maniac. There's no way he knows that you can hear him, and quite frankly, I'm surprised we can at all."

 _ **"My power is extensive, human. There are many things I am capable of that you would not understand."**_

"Yeah, there's been a lot that I don't understand lately..." Leader's eyes drifted back down to the surface of Spear Pillar, where he could barely make out the deceivingly small spots that he knew were people. And the one of most interest was the one who he could hear shouting clearly - thanks to Arceus' power - clearly addressing the alpha pokemon intentionally. "Arceus, please, you must understand that he's disoriented. His circumstances are complicated so I can tell you that he is-"

 _ **"Even so..."**_

"Wait...Where are you going?" Leader's eyes began to widen as he noticed the alpha pokemon begin to descend in the air, the distance increasing between the two of them as Leader did not follow. "Wait! Arceus, please, don't listen to him or whatever he says!"

 _ **"I thought you had said you weren't planning anything?"**_

"I did! And that's because we're not-!"

 _ **"Then why do you sound afraid of your friend's actions?"**_ And that's when the full gravity of it hit him. Since arriving to Spear Pillar, Jack had been acting strangely. And though he had a strong suspicion of what the cause was, which was confirmed by Jack himself, he had never given it full serious thought as to the outcome of what it would bring. Then there was their discussion in the Distortion World. Bringing up their agreement, and the promise that Jack made him agree to. And why he was now yelling at Arceus to appear before him with no hesitation.

"No...No, Arceus! You can't face him! Please!" Leader's heart began to sink as the heavenly figure ignored him, only descending further towards the waste-ridden mountaintop. The man dropped to his knees, teeth clenched together as he pounded a fist against the invisible force beneath him. "Dammit...! I can't let him do this...Not like this...! I can't just sit here and be useless now!"

 _ **"So you wanna help your friend?"**_ the man blinked in surprise, turning around to see a surprising sight. A small pink-headed figure, along with its two siblings on either side of her, and the three dragons of creation lined across behind them.

"Mesprit...?" he was unsure what to make of this. The lake guardians were willing to help the other group to stop him, as well as the dragons themselves trying to help put a final end to him. "...Why are you...?"

 _ **"Don't you want to help your friend? You know what Arceus will do down there,"**_ Leader's fist tightened at his side.

"Of course I want to help him! But...How am I supposed to help him from up here...?" the man's eyes drifted back to the surface, where he could see the heavenly figure was getting fairly close to Jack. The lake guardians looked to each other, sharing a single look, then each gave a nod.

 _ **"Then we will help you. However, there is one condition that you must agree to first."**_

* * *

 _"Gotta admit...Didn't think that would work..."_ Jack thought to himself, a pleasantly surprised expression on his face as he watched the alpha pokemon touch down on the surface a short distance ahead of him. _"So if that worked...Don't tell me praying actually_ does _do something-"_

 _ **"What is it you're planning, human?"**_ Jack nearly flinched at the alpha's sudden demanding tone, noticing its red pupils were focused intently on him.

"You can't be serious...! Jack-!" Webb grunted as he attempted to shift his position, a searing pain shooting through his leg at the slightest movement. Mason put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't even think about it," he said, earning a bewildered look from his friend.

"Are you serious right now? Arceus was just trying to kill Jack and Leader, and now Jack is facing it _alone_! You think I'm just gonna sit calmly-?!"

"Mason's right," Webb's shocked expression turned to the blue-haired man, who was currently checking Gina's pulse.

"Trevor, you can't be-!"

"I don't like it anymore than you do, but think about it. Arceus just summoned a _few_ legendary pokemon and they crushed us like we were nothing, so what's stopping it from summoning them now?"

"But what if it _does_ then?! You're still just gonna sit over here and watch?!"

"Even if we all helped again, we were outmatched before. Now look at us: you think we would last even a _second_?" Webb bit his lip, fists clenched at his sides. Trevor looked over towards their friend facing the alpha pokemon alone, his eyes narrowing on the man. "...And despite how stupid he usually is...Something tells me he wouldn't be doing that if he wasn't planning something..."

 _ **"I asked you a question, human,"**_ Jack took a deep breath, closing his eyes. Then he smirked. And chuckled.

"You really like to make me out to be the bad guy, huh?" Arceus narrowed its eyes as it noticed Jack begin to laugh increasingly louder, a smile spreading across his face. "I understand that humans are terrible...But you think that _I_ am the one you should be hating right now?"

 _ **"What are you talking about...?"**_

"I'm talking about the answer to your question! What I wanted to use your power for: you think I would be stupid enough to ask for a _god's_ power if it would be some menial task?" Jack's laughter stopped, opening his eyes again and looking the god in the eye. "I am not here for revenge: I only seek retribution. Justice for a world that was tainted by human error and arrogance!"

 _ **"Retribution, you say...?"**_ the man gave a nod. _**"And how exactly is it that my power should help you with that?"**_

"By cleansing this world of the poison that is killing it."

 _ **"Cleanse it...?"**_

"What is he talking about...?" Mason muttered to himself, staring at Jack curiously. Trevor glanced back down to Gina's body, whose chest was still rising and lowering much slower than normal. He looked over to Krystal next, noticing that her breathing almost seemed slower if that was even possible. And even with what Jack was doing, this left an uneasy feeling in his chest.

"I came here to do what is best for this world. This world in its current state brings nothing but suffering to all living things: nature is being destroyed, pokemon are taken from their homes, they lose their families, they go through suffering every day! And all because of what?!" Jack shouted, his friends staring at him with perplexed expression while the god stared at him intently.

 _ **"You realize what you're saying...that you are including yourse-"**_

"Of course I do!" the god paused. "Maybe I can't defend myself now...No, I _know_ that I can't. I have caused pain to others for my own benefit. Because I thought it would be best, but all it did was make things worse. I'm no better than anyone else...But at least I always give my pokemon a _choice_ rather than force them! And the pain I've caused...it wasn't to my pokemon..."

"Okay, I've heard enough," Jack nearly flinched at the voice, knowing it was not Arceus. He, as well as the alpha pokemon, turned their heads to see Trevor approaching them. "Jack, I don't know what you're doing right now, but this is not the time for it. We need to get you to a hospital- _all_ of us need a hospital."

"...I know you can't understand, Trevor...I don't expect you to, after what I've done...but you're one of the people who can't say that I haven't caused pain to others..." Trevor narrowed his eyes on his friend as the man moved a hand behind his head, scratching it as he looked to the ground beside him. "And for what I did to you guys...I'm treating this as my atonement, as well as doing what must be done..."

"What the hell are you talking about? Atone all you want, but that doesn't make _this_ any less insane!" the man exclaimed, pointing to the heavenly figure beside them. "Seriously, Jack, whatever this is can wait! You saw Gina and Krystal! They are not in a state to be waiting around on you! They're only going to be in _more_ pain while you're doing this!" Jack closed his eyes. Trevor watched as the man did nothing for a few moments, confused as to what he was thinking. Then Jack gave a weak smile.

"...You're right...More right than you realize..." Trevor's expression turned to confusion when he watched Jack reach for his belt, unclipping a pokeball. Then another. And again, now holding all three of his pokeballs in his hands. "...It's not just Gina and Krys'...Each of you will be in pain if you stay..."

"What are you doing...?" the blue-haired man watched in shock as Jack released his team all at once. Just as perplexed as Trevor, Jack's incineroar, salamence, and salazzle looked at their trainer with curious looks. And the man only smiled weakly back to them. "Jack...?"

"Alright, guys...This is the last request I'll ever make of you. Go make sure these guys get to a hospital safely."

"Jack, what the hell are you saying?" Trevor asked, watching the man give a rub on the head to each of his pokemon, smiling as he turned to look at him.

"And promise me...that you guys will make a good life for yourselves out there afterwards..."

"Jack! This isn't funny, what the hell are you talking about?!" Trevor snapped, finally having enough of what he thought was his friend's sick definition of a joke. He was always so bad at jokes before, and now this?

"Trevor..." the blue-haired man cringed as he watched Jack smile at him. But not one that he had ever seen before. One that was clearly a front to hide a vast sadness. "...Don't you dare let Gina or Krystal get any worse...okay?"

"Jack!" the man noticed Mason coming up behind Trevor, arms crossed. "Come on, man, this isn't the time for keeping us out of the loop. What is going on?"

"...What exactly does it mean...to be a god?"

"What the hell is he doing...?" Trevor's fists clenched at his sides, watching with Mason beside him as Jack turned away from them and back towards the cause of their concern.

 _ **"What did you say, human?"**_

"You heard me. What right do you have that entitles you to your powers?" the alpha pokemon's eyes narrowed on the man, his friends staring in shock as he spoke. "Ever since I was young, anywhere I go, all I see are people putting on brave faces. Smiles that hide their pain and sorrow, but even through that, they still find the strength to continue! And how do you suppose they do that? Because they believe that _you_ will help them! A figure of higher power - one who gave life to the rulers of space and time - and _what_ do you use those powers for?!"

 _ **"Watch your tone, human. Or I might revoke my latent mercy of allowing you to escape earlier-"**_

" _Mercy_? When have you _ever_ been merciful? This world has suffered, along with every pokemon and human in existence! You're supposed to be a god: what have you ever done to try and help them?! The ones who look up to you and pray to you for guidance! The only mercy you have ever shown is the fact that you have never been here when needed, because you would only be _useless_ and not do a single damn thing!"

"What the hell...?" Trevor stared in shock and awe as his friend cursed out the being of creation, showing no sign of backing down. And the alpha did not appear amused.

"Innocent pokemon have suffered _so_ much because you have done nothing to help them! My _friends_ and _family_ have suffered because they believed in a god who would help them, but all it did was sit back and _watch_! And you try to claim that _I'm_ ignorant?! For wanting to have your power, and to use it for something that would actually do some good for this world?! For all the life you've created, and _abandoned_!"

 _ **"You know nothing of this level of power."**_

"Maybe I don't...but if I had the chance, I would damn well learn. I would learn to use it to _help_ people- _Pokemon_ , who need it! I would not be a god who would sit back and watch his creations die like they meant nothing! I would make sure that my family _never_ has to suffer again like they have in the past! And you can be damn sure that I would succeed in doing so, because I would devote the rest of my _life_ towards it! And I would not let anything stop me; _especially_ not a useless god whose crowning achievement in this era was killing a human who was trying to _help_ others!"

 _ **"Enough!"**_ the god's pointed foot came crashing down onto the ground, piercing just a few feet ahead of where Jack stood. The three men watching from the sidelines each flinched at the sound and sight of the impact, but noticed that Jack didn't budge an inch. His eyes remained locked with the alpha's. _**"I may have been able to forgive you for the insolence of summoning me while arguing amongst your companions, but I will**_ **never** _ **forgive one who deems me useless when they know nothing of this world! You have not been here for even a**_ **fraction** _ **of this world's lifespan, and you dare question me on how to oversee it?!"**_

"Then by all means, explain," the god's eyes narrowed, the man opposing him crossing his arms. "Explain your reasons. For a god to have been here since the very beginning of _everything_ , for someone who has witnessed pain and suffering from the very dawn of time, why would you allow it? Why have you never made even an _attempt_ to put an end to it despite the immense powers that you claim to have?!"

 _ **"Because there is no point,"**_ Jack felt his fist clench against his side. _**"You are far too young to understand, human...In fact, the longest life possible for a human is barely even enough to grasp the concept of true suffering. What it means to truly be reduced to nothing...You claim that your friends have endured a harsh reality...but I'm afraid that they have endured nothing compared to what has come and gone from this world, countless times over,"**_ the alpha noticed the man's head had begun to hang low, his face no longer visible with his hands at his sides. Arceus closed its eyes, taking a deep breath. _**"I can sense your very frustration in the air...but you do not realize that I can also sense that behaving this way will only hasten your-"**_

"Screw you..."

 _ **"...**_ **What** _ **...?"**_ the god's eyes snapped open angrily, glaring down at the man who hadn't moved, the only difference being that his hands were now clenched into fists at his sides, trembling.

"You claim to be a god...but you squander these powers...these responsibilities...All because you're _afraid_? Afraid of what this world- your _own_ _creation_ will throw at you?" Jack raised his head, revealing a surprising sight to the alpha. The man's eyes were burning: a fire fueled by rage, from years of dedication towards his current goal, paired with the unlikeliest of partners. A genuine smile. "You think that I deem you unworthy? As a useless god? Well, allow me to put your uncertainty at ease: I assure you, with every fibre of my being...That I _despise_ the thought of that power being in such uncapable hands."

"What the hell is he thinking?" Webb coughed, eyes wide after hearing the man's declaration.

"I don't know...But this is definitely bigger than anything we thought it was..." Mason remarked, Trevor unable to even utter a word of agreement. In all the time that he had known Jack, he knew him to be a fool: but to declare resentment to a god's _face_? This was a whole new level. A level that maintained the full attention of everyone who witnessed it, preventing them from noticing that there had begun to be more movement atop Mt. Coronet. Weak and sluggish movement.

And yet, the chill that swept across the mountaintop nearly froze Webb, Mason and Trevor to their very cores at the sound of the god's laughter. Not one of confidence, or arrogance: genuine amusement, with a hint of bad things to come.

 _ **"I must admit, human...In all my millennia of being, I have come across a handful of humans who have piqued my interest. And of those few, even fewer managed to face me without fear or intimidation..."**_ the three men watching from the side began to grow nervous as the god lowered its head towards the ground, stopping close to the ground at eye level with Jack, its large red eyes staring forward at him like mental daggers. And yet Jack remained unfazed, even as the god let out a deep exhale, the air adjusting his short hair slightly. _**"...But not even one of those**_ **very** _ **few...have ever had the gall to oppose me face to face...without running, like the cowards that humans are."**_

"...Well, maybe you don't realize something..." Jack chuckled, confusing the god. "I haven't come here seeking your power with arrogance like the humans before me. Hell, I haven't come here for my own benefits at all, or even the benefits of _any_ human. A god with the power to give life...would logically have an equal power...in taking it. You've mentioned the arrogance of humans: their flaws, their hatred, their defiance, their _egotistical_ invention of the pokeball to _contain_ pokemon, as if they were our slaves...I wish to put an end to these boundless flaws, and means of suffering to innocent lives. The first - and _final_ \- end, for all of time."

 _ **"...Then perhaps the time for games is finally over..."**_ the god's head leaned in closer towards him, turning slightly to the side so that Jack was faced with the full size of one of Arceus' eyes, the red pupil dilating as it focused on him. _**"...What is the purpose you seek the power of a god?"**_ Jack paused. Trevor, Mason and Webb almost began to think that Arceus had stopped time as they noticed neither of the two moved for quite some time. It was almost a chilling sight to see their friend, seemingly stuck in time, face-to-face with the god of all creation who was trying to put an end to him not 24 hours ago. Which made it all the more concerning as they noticed the man's shoulders begin to bounce slightly, as if he were...laughing. But they couldn't hear him. Even as they watched him lean towards the eye of god, no matter how hard they tried to listen, they couldn't hear his voice. But what they didn't realize - or perhaps what they didn't want to believe - was that Arceus heard Jack's voice loud and clear.

"To remove the plague of humanity from this world."

* * *

 _Past_

"What just happened...?" Lexi asked, uncovering her squinted eyes from the sudden burst of light around them.

"Dialga jumped us through time again," Brock responded, beginning to peer around at their surroundings.

"Which means that this must be another place where we can change history to help Ash, right?" Dawn asked, the older man giving a nod.

"Then the question is...What's so important about a hospital?" Gary asked, looking around curiously. True to the researcher's word, the group came to fully realize that they were standing in the hallway of a hospital, a row of doors on either side of them before reaching the corner where an information desk stood. Gary narrowed his eyes curiously towards the desk, moving towards it in the hopes of finding someone to speak to, followed closely by the rest of the group behind him. But there was no one.

"Is it lunch break or something?" Max asked, looking confused.

"Looks like it," Gary pointed up to a clock that hung on the wall behind the desk, which read 12:25. The young researcher peeked over the surface of the counter, noticing something on the desk behind it that his attention. Giving a brief glance around to ensure that no nurses or doctors were around, he reached over and grabbed it, holding it up for him to see. A small desktop tear-away calendar, with the front page displaying the current date. "Let's see, today's..." Gary blinked, raising his head and giving a questioning glance around. "...We went back another year and a half, two years before the present. But why are we going so out of order? And why a hospital...?"

"Well, I've never been a fan of hospitals...But I say we try looking around, see if there's something we can find," and with the redhead's suggestion, the group started down the corridor of the hospital. Despite the eerie lack of noise wherever they went, they tried to pay no mind to it considering where they were, as they searched for anything of interest to them that could be linked to their old friend. But the more they searched, the less it seemed to make sense. Anyone they came across were just random employees or patients, nothing linked back to Ash, or seemingly anything about their mission.

"Uuuugh, why is there _nothing_? It's like this hospital is in the middle of nowhere!" Max muttered in frustration, covering his face with his palms to muffle his voice from being heard clearly.

"Relax, Max, we'll find something. We have to," Dawn told him as they stepped into a lobby, noticing the same woman sitting behind the desk that they had minutes earlier. "But we can't just go in circles here...There has to be something we're not thinking of..."

"Two years ago...So this is way before you met Ash or Jack, right, Lexi?" Gary asked, stopping and turning towards the blonde. The rest of the group stopped with him, Lexi giving a nod.

"Yeah, I was the last one to join the group. And I don't think any of the others were with them this far back-" the blonde's voice cut short as she felt something. Something disturbing. But she was unaware that she was the only one who had felt it.

"So, what could that mean? Do you think Ash or Jack had an accident two years ago?" Misty asked, the others pondering for suggestions to add in. But as they continued discussing possibilities, it went by unnoticed that one member had gone quiet. And that one group member's ears had begun to tune out the sound of the others, as they tried to focus on something else. Distant voices. Distressed voices.

"Ash or Jack had to have come to this hospital for _something_...Lexi, are you sure you can't think of-" Dawn turned to face the blonde as she posed her question, but stopped as she noticed an empty spot in the group. "...Lexi? Where did she go?"

"Wha-...Lexi?" May noticed the lack of their new companion, starting to look around frantically before finding her, on the other side of the lobby. "Lexi? Where are you going?" the blonde didn't answer, nor did she even turn around, as she continued to stare at a pair of swinging doors which lead into the backend of the hospital. May moved to Lexi's side, leaning over slightly as she peeked at her face curiously. "Lexi...?"

"I don't like this..." the brunette's brow furrowed at her quiet words, noticing a look of fear in the girl's eyes as she held a fist close to her chest. She couldn't put her finger on it, but something about the feeling she had gotten earlier...something was drawing her in. Something behind these doors. "...I can't explain it...but I got a really bad feeling just now..."

"What do you mean- Hey! Lexi!" May couldn't reach out in time to stop the girl before she pushed the doors open, marching quickly inside. The brunette acted quick, hurrying in after her before the doors closed and noticing the girl turn around the corner ahead. "Lexi! Wait up!"

 _"Why did you bring us here, Dialga...? How could this point in time help us to change the future...to save Leader...?"_ the blonde pondered to herself, her focus brought back to the distant voices she had heard earlier. But now they seemed louder. May came around the corner, noticing her friend hurrying away even faster.

"Lexi!"

 _"Please...Please let this feeling be nothing...Just be my imagination...!"_ Lexi's pleas in her mind echoed like they were bouncing off walls, reaching no one in particular as she turned another corner. The voices were very close now. Looking ahead, she only noticed an attached hallway to the left and a pair of doors ahead. And the voices were no longer muffled, which meant that the girl could recognize that they were clearly the voices of doctors and nurses. And they seemed very commanding, as if they were rushed. _"It's right there...This has to be it-!"_ the blonde was nearly taken back as a pair of nurses emerged from the connected hallway, both holding onto a corner of a stretcher as they pulled it with doctors following on either side of it. For a split moment, Lexi's mind began coming up with questions as to why she felt drawn this way, why they could have been brought to this point in time, why this could be significant to either Leader or Jack. But it all came to a stop the moment the stretcher came past the corner.

"Lexi, why are you-?" finally catching up to her friend after she had stopped, May put a hand on her shoulder and immediately looked over at the girl's face to question her before noticing her expression. Compared to moments earlier, she had grown pale: her eyes were blank, as if her soul had momentarily left her body. "Hey...What's wro-" May's eyes glanced ahead to the nurses and doctors ahead of them. In an instant, their voices seemed to drown out. Ignoring the nurses and doctors, May's eyes were drawn to the stretcher: more specifically, the person laying on it. With wires attached to his arms as well as an IV that a nurse was following behind with, as well as a mask on his face connected to a machine beside him for breathing assistance, one brief look at the unconscious man - surrounded by urging medical professionals - was enough to tell her why Lexi had become petrified.

Jack.

* * *

 _Present_

 _ **"Here we are,"**_ Mesprit did a flip through the air as she and her two siblings hovered around the man. He looked down at his feet, noticing they were now planted on the solid ground of Spear Pillar, giving a quiet breath of relief as he looked to the small pink figure who had teleported him.

"Thank you, Mesprit. And you as well, Azelf, Uxie," the three figures stopped their movements, hovering in front of him. "Really...I realize you have no reason for helping me, after what I've tried to do...and after what you've sensed in my mind, Mesprit-"

 _ **"Now is not the time for that. We agreed to help you help your friend, so please do not waste our efforts. Go,"**_ Leader gave a nod, turning away from them and looking at the man standing literally less than inches away from the being of creation.

"You can't deny that my idea wouldn't be best for this world...both pokemon and nature itself..." Jack said in a serious tone, still staring into the eye of Arceus.

"Jack, stop this!"

"Wha...Leader?" Jack's eyes widened as he noticed the man to the side of his field of vision, accompanied by the three small lake guardians behind him. "Even the lake guardians...? What the hell are you doing here, I thought you had gone to safe-"

"No, what the hell are _you_ doing here?" Jack nearly flinched, recognizing that tone. One he had not heard from Leader often. "Jack, you _cannot_ go through with this now. You are in no condition to be making demands-"

"Which is exactly the reason is _has_ to be now, Leader. You know that, and don't forget that you _agreed_ to that," he replied, Leader stopping a short distance from him as he noticed Arceus' head turn his way.

 _ **"So you came, after all...and you even used the power of my children..."**_ Arceus started, the three guardians hovering in front of Leader.

 _ **"He did not use us! We offered our help to him, because we can recognize that nothing good will come of this conflict!"**_ Azelf called out, its siblings nodding in agreement.

 _ **"He may have darkness in his heart, but I can still sense that he cares about his friend! And he does not wish for anything bad to happen to him!"**_ Mesprit added, the alpha glancing back down to Jack.

"Even you must realize, Leader...it's time for this to come to an end," Jack called to him, forgetting that Leader was not the only human who was within range of hearing.

"Leader!"

"Mason?" Leader breathed a sigh of relief as he looked past Jack and Arceus, now noticing the orange-haired man on the opposite side of the mountaintop, along with Trevor standing beside him. "And Trevor...I'm so glad you guys are okay, I didn't know what to-" stepping to his side, Leader noticed his friends come more into view from behind Arceus' body, his eyes widening as he noticed Webb on the ground with his leg injury. And almost immediately afterwards, the two unconscious girls. "...Krystal...Gina...?" he felt the strength fade from his legs, starting to grow shaky as he tried to step forward and nearly falling to the ground. Then before he even realized it, he broke into a sprint past Jack and Arceus. "Krystal! Gina!"

"It's okay, Leader, they're breathing. We all are, thankfully," Webb told him, giving a weak smile as he attempted to adjust himself before wincing and freezing up.

"Webb, don't you dare move," the green-haired man chuckled weakly at the man's terse command, watching him drop to his knees beside Gina's unconscious body. "Wait, I don't see Lexi...! Where's Lexi?"

"It's okay, Leader. She got away, thanks to the lake guardians, before the battle got out of hand," Mason explained, the man giving a weak breath of relief as he looked back down at the body in front of him.

"...This is my fault...Giratina took its time to find us in the Distortion World, so I couldn't do a single thing to help avoid this...!" carefully reaching his hand out, he brushed a strand of the girl's silver hair away from her eye.

"If I may speak freely, don't start giving us that crap, Leader," Leader looked over to Webb, noticing him giving a smile as Mason and Trevor nodded.

"He's right. Krystal and Gina may have pushed you into the Distortion World, but that wasn't just their decision. Things were going from bad to worse, real fast...So we made the most important call that we had to," Mason explained, Trevor putting his hands on his waist as Leader looked at him.

"Our main goal will always be to support you, Leader. And we can't do that if you're dead. And as conflicted as I am because of all the lies lately...Jack is still our family, too. We _all_ agreed on the decision to save you, even if you needed someone to buy you time," the blue-haired man added, Leader getting a sinking feeling in his chest.

"That's all there is to it, Leader. You and Jack are important to us, and Arceus was after you two specifically...We knew you needed _something_ to keep them off your tail," Webb flashed a thumbs-up, Leader giving a distraught look to each of the three men.

"You three...even Krystal and Gina..." his head hung low over Gina's body, watching her stomach rise and fall slowly, paired with the sound of weak breathing. And at the sound of Arceus' voice once more, the man didn't realize that his fists clenched tighter than before.

 _ **"So the two of you**_ **were** _ **conspiring together, then..."**_ the alpha started, Jack giving a brief glance to his friends on the side.

"I assure you, my actions are my own now. And if he can't keep his word, then you can consider us separate parties," Jack said coldly, the alpha's red eyes trailing over towards Leader over his unconscious friend.

 _ **"Is that so...? I suppose I should not be surprised...you humans have always been quick to deceive and desert your own kind. In the end, you are all the same-"**_

"You have _no_ right to say that!"

"...Leader...?" Jack turned towards his friends on the side, the alpha also looking over to watch the man straighten up on his feet. With his fists at his sides, he turned his head to look directly into the god's eyes, his own showing a clear burning anger.

 _ **"**_ **I** _ **have no right...?"**_

"You're damn right! You claim that humans are all the same- that we lie to each other and betray each other like it's our nature! But how in the hell have _you_ acted any differently?!" he snapped, taking everyone but Arceus by surprise. For Mason, Webb and Trevor, this was a behavior of Leader that they had almost never seen, maybe the only time being their previous experience on this mountaintop before the attack of the legendaries. It was the same situation for Jack, though knowing the truth that the others didn't, he knew that there was no chance that Leader could hold this back.

 _ **"You think**_ **I** _ **act the same as you-?!"**_

"Of course you do! You say humans lie? What about all the humans _and_ pokemon on this planet who look up to you for help?! If you were any more truthful than humans, then why have you not lent help even _once_?!"

 _ **"Know your place, human, you have no-"**_

"And _we_ betray one another? Yeah, I won't deny that: I have lied to my friends - my _family_ \- but it was only to keep them safe! To make sure that they got along and never came to start hating each other! I lied for _their_ sake, not my own! I didn't get any benefit from it! If anything, it hurt me just as much to _know_ the truth and not be able to tell them!"

 _ **"And you claim that you are more righteous than me?"**_

"...No...I know I'm not righteous. I'm no perfect being, nor am I above anyone else. I am just another everyday human, like anyone else in this world."

 _ **"Then perhaps you do know your pla-"**_

"But at least I can recognize when a hypocrite in power doesn't deserve it!" Arceus' eyes narrowed, glaring down at the man. "You can say all you want about us humans: we are terrible, we hurt each other, sometimes we don't even deserve the care of others! But if you can say that and not realize that you are _exactly_ the same as us, if not _worse_ \- then maybe your age is starting to get to you and this world needs a new overseer!"

 _ **...You really think...you could**_ **ever** _ **hope to replace me...?"**_ Leader felt annoyance building inside of him as the alpha began to laugh, clearly mocking his words. For a brief moment, his hand instinctively moved towards the minimized purple sphere attached to his belt, but he refrained from touching it.

"Considering all _you_ do is sit back and do nothing for eternity...Yeah, I do. In fact, I believe _any_ human or pokemon could do just as good a job as you," the alpha's laughter ceased, its red eyes narrowing on the serious man once more.

 _ **"And how do you plan to take my power? Need I remind you, your friends over there are an indication of how your previous attempt went..."**_ Leader glanced back to his injured friends behind him, feeling a pain in his heart knowing that Arceus was right. He had failed: and they got hurt in the process.

"Well, good thing this battle is between the two of us, then. If you really are so much better than humans like you claim to be, then you won't bring innocent lives into this. Them, or anyone else," Leader told Arceus, noticing it turn its body towards him.

"Leader, don't! What the hell are you thinking?!" the man ignored Webb's pleas behind him, focusing only on the god as he watched it lower its head to his level, its eyes staring evenly into his.

 _ **"Then I am even**_ **more** _ **curious...How do you - a human - intend to defeat me alone?"**_

 _ **"With help!"**_ each of the men on Spear Pillar were taken back as the god suddenly reared its head upward, shouting in pain as something exploded on its back. As a cloud of smoke spread over the divine being like a blanket, its angry cry motivated Jack to move away from it, instinctively going towards his friends but forcing himself to keep a distance. Leader ducked his head as he saw the silhouette of one of Arceus' legs raise into the air, before the ground started to shake as it came crashing back down onto the stone. Leader began to grow worried as he noticed a familiar glowing orb begin to shine from within the smoke, recalling memories of his past experience in Michina Town. His hand instinctively reached for one of his pokeballs on his belt, but he felt something small touch his hand and stop it.

 _ **"We've got this!"**_ looking down to his side, he was surprised to see a familiar blue face smiling as it hovered up to his eye-level, doing a backflip in the air as it held its arms up, the gems on its forehead and tails glowing as a pale blue orb of energy appeared around them.

"Azelf?! Wait, my friends-!"

 _ **"It's okay, we've got them too!"**_ Leader noticed the orb of energy fire straight upward into the air from the cloud of smoke, bursting into several smaller orbs of energy as they descended back towards the ground of Spear Pillar. Leader grew panicked as he looked through the lake guardian's protection for his friends, hearing several fragments of the Judgement already hitting the ground around them, but noticed a much larger orb of protection above his friends, one pink and one blue. When the dust settled, Arceus became enraged at what he saw.

 _ **"You dare**_ **protect** _ **them?!"**_ it bellowed, watching the deities of time and space lower their protective barriers and giving a simultaneous roar in response.

 _ **"We protect them because they don't deserve this fate! No one does!"**_ Mesprit called out, hovering around Leader's head and stopping beside Azelf.

 _ **"We have a deal with this human. In return for our request, we will not let him or anyone he calls a friend be harmed!"**_ Uxie added, joining its siblings as the alpha's eyes burned with rage.

 _ **"Then you will learn your place WITH THEM!"**_ Arceus drew back its head to charge a Hyper Beam, but heard a familiar screech behind it, quickly taking upward into the air just in time to avoid the six-legged dragon crash down onto the ground where it once stood. _**"Lake guardians...and even my children of time, space, and the parallel dimension...! You would all choose to defy me for the sake of**_ **one** _ **human?!"**_

 _ **"It's not just for his sake! It's for the**_ **future** _ **, of all humans! To correct the wrongs done here today, and ensure that this world and its inhabitants continue on!"**_ Mesprit shouted, Giratina giving a screen of agreement as it hovered away from the alpha and joined Dialga and Palkia in the air above Leader's injured friends. Jack looked up in awe at the dragons, and then to the lake guardians, for their defiant decision.

 _ **"To correct the wrongs? There is no correcting this!"**_ Arceus slammed one of its hooves into the stone once more, lowering its head slightly as it gave out a heavy exhale, its eyes staring down at Leader. _**"This one has made his choice, as well as his so-called 'friend' over there. I will not let such immense impertinence go unpunished!"**_ the three lake guardians formed a triangle in the air in front of Leader, holding their arms forward to form a conjoint protective barrier as the divine being fired a Hyper Beam at them, crashing into the orb before being deflected upward into the sky, parting any trace of clouds that may have been present.

 _ **"How can you call death a punishment?! He may have strayed onto the wrong path, but one's mistake does not define who they are!"**_ Azelf called out, the god starting to charge directly towards them. In a flash, the lake guardians disappeared along with Leader, the god's hooves breaking the stone on impact where he stood as they re-appeared behind it.

 _ **"My brother is right! It is not the mistake, but the choices made that follow it which defines who we are! Mistakes do not exist to be erased, they are meant to be learned from!"**_ the alpha turned its head towards them with an angry grunt, moving its body so that it faced them once more.

 _ **"Then I sincerely hope that you will learn from the graveness of this one...!"**_ the lake guardians prepared themselves as they watched Arceus rear its head back, but noticed that its eyes shifted to the side away from them. Leader noticed this as well, following its gaze and saw that it had taken an interest in Dialga. Or more likely, the vibrant glow that pulsed across the time deity's armor. _**"...Or perhaps...there could be a better punishment suited for you...Let me ask you, human: Do you know why Dialga might be manipulating time at the moment?"**_

"Do I know...?" Leader muttered to himself, watching the god pierce its hoof into the stone beneath it.

 _ **"Is it someone you're working with that he has sent into the past?!"**_ the alpha bellowed, the man giving a curious glance over to Dialga. Then he noticed the lake guardians hover into his view.

 _ **"Dialga's time jump is our doing. Shortly after you left for the Distortion World during the previous battle, we teleported your friends away from the battle, to safety,"**_ the man narrowed his eyes on Uxie.

"My friends...? You mean May and the others? Did you take Lexi too?" he asked frantically, the trio giving a simultaneous nod.

 _ **"We knew chances would be slim to convince Arceus of forgetting everything that's happened, so we asked your friends to accept Dialga's offering to help prevent any of this from happening. Our request was that they accomplish their task and keep all of you safe,"**_ Uxie explained, the man looking at it questioningly.

"But...Keep us safe? Where exactly did you send them to stop _all_ of this?" he inquired, unaware that he and the lake guardians were speaking loudly enough for someone else nearby to hear them.

"...Change the past, huh...?" Jack closed his eyes as he took a deep breath, smirking to himself. "Then if that happens...None of this will come to happen..." the man turned and looked back towards Arceus, who was still staring down Leader. "...So if none of this happens...Then I guess to hell with consequences."

"Where did Dialga send them? What exactly did you tell them to-" Leader's question got caught in his throat, noticing a figure move past him and the guardians, heading straight towards the god of creation. "Jack! Don't interfere with this, go help the others-!"

"Nah, I think we've wasted more than enough time arguing. And so have you, Arceus! So why don't we just cut this childish crap and get right to it then, huh?" the man called out, the alpha narrowing its eyes on him.

 _ **"And what do you propose?"**_

"If you're so almighty and better than any of _us_ could ever hope to be, then prove it! Shut up about being able to use those powers and just _use_ them for something! A proper use of the powers of a god, for the good of all the life you've watched over!" Leader's eyes widened, understanding what Jack was getting at.

"Jack, stop! This isn't how we were supposed to-!" Leader was cut short by the divine being's foot slamming into the ground between him, stopping him in his tracks. Past the god's leg, he saw Jack turn his head to him with a faint-hearted smile.

"Leader...You've been with me from the very beginning, and I have never doubted your trust. Even with everything that's happened on this mountain, I've still had faith that you would honor our agreement...and you would keep your promise. You say you have always had faith in me...so don't make me lose faith in you," Leader felt as if his chest were sinking into his stomach, those words from his closest friend - his own brother - hitting harder than anything he had ever felt before. To the side of the mountaintop, the other three men watched in confusion and awe as the two confronted each other, also maintaining the health of the two unconscious young women. But the confrontation happening in front of them appeared to be too distracting for a moment.

"...Le...der...?"

Trevor was immediately snapped out of his stupor at the nearly inaudible sound, his eyes snapping down at the ground beside him. To his remaining amazement, let alone relief, he noticed that the icy blue-haired girl's eyelids were finally starting to flicker open. "Krystal...? Hey, Krys', can you hear me?"

"...Leader...where...?" Trevor put his hands quickly to the young woman's shoulders softly, stopping her attempt to move.

"Hey, hey, easy, just relax, okay? You're hurt really bad, don't push yourself, that means no moving-" the girl put her hand on his, attempting to squeeze it and move it away, the man noticing how weak her grip was. She clenched her teeth and winced, trying to squirm out from his grip as her eyes slowly tried to take in her surroundings. "Take it easy, Krys', we're still on Spear Pillar. The battle went...pretty bad, but Leader came back safe and sound. He's just over-"

"Le...der..." the girl leaned her head forward, looking past Trevor's arm. She first noticed Mason and Webb near him, but their eyes were focused in a different direction, following their gaze and noticing more figures. One was familiar with how large it was compared to herself, one of its legs dividing the other two figures, who she could tell were both men. She recognized the first immediately, her lips weakly twitching as she tried to smile. "...Leader...He's...okay..." she breathed heavily, wincing as a searing pain shot through her gut, one of her hands moving to it in an attempt to ease the pain. Her eyes looked towards the other man facing against Leader, squinting as she wondered who it was. "...Jack...? But...why...?" she noticed Leader's hand point out at him accusingly, but Jack seemed to shrug it off, her hearing not having fully returned so she couldn't understand what they were saying. "...Are they...still fighting...? Jack...Leader...stop..."

"Hey, hey, take it easy, Krys'," Trevor pleaded, showing a rare concerned side of his as he prevented the girl from trying to move. Unbeknownst to him, his voice had reached another pair of ears: a pair he had no idea were listening.

"...Krys'..." Trevor was startled by the sound of something hitting the ground behind him, albeit not very hard. Turning his head, his eyes widened as he noticed the other girl's arm outstretched on the ground as she was now on her side, weakly trying to pull herself towards them. "...Krys'...are...you...?"

"Whoa, hey! Gina, stop!" Leader's concentration was broken from Jack, Trevor's voice catching his attention and making him look back towards his friends. He saw Trevor rush to Gina's side, her eyes now awake as she coughed onto the ground, his eyes drifting over to Krystal and noticing that her eyes were also now open, looking right at him as she tried to pull herself to her feet using the pillar.

"Gina...Krys'...!" Leader sprinted over towards them as fast as he could, noticing Krystal's arms getting shaky as they held the pillar supporting her, her legs shaking just as weakly. He reached his arms out just as he noticed her legs give out beneath her, dropping onto his knees and catching her before she hit the ground. "Krys', take it easy, just don't move. Please, don't move and just rest-"

"Le...der..." the weak girl struggled to lift her arm, her hand appearing to be reaching for his face. He took the back of her hand in his, holding it carefully and tightly. "...You're...okay...glad..."

"Yes...Yes, I'm okay, Krys'. It's thanks to you, and everyone...which is why we will have to discuss all of you disobeying me later..." he couldn't help but chuckle, noticing the girl's faint smile try to grow as she gave a few faint breaths in an attempt to laugh.

"We...only wanted...save...you..." Leader nodded, the girl giving a slow look down at herself. "...Sorry...you...see me...like this..."

"Don't apologize for that, I could not be more proud of you right now. Just please, don't move and rest, okay?" the girl feels Leader's grip on her hand start to get tighter, her smile slowly growing more. The man felt her push her hand and his towards his face, touching her open palm against his cheek.

"...Happy..." Leader looks into her eyes questioningly, noticing her smile faintly start to crack wider as her eyes stared back into his. "...All I...wanted...was...purpose..."

"I know...And you found it, okay? Just rest, don't talk."

"...And...a home...You gave...me...everything..."

"Krys', I'm begging you, just rest, _please_. We can talk about all of this later when we have you in the hospital-"

"...And you...cared...about me...you..."

"Don't say it like it was the past, I _still_ care about you, Krys', I always will. I care about all of you-"

"...You...were...my family...I...love...everyone..."

"And they love you too, that's why you have to rest. They _need_ you to stay with us...! _I_ need you to stay!"

"You...need me...? I...like that...and...you...thank you...Leader...I...owe...you...every..."

"Krys', stop, _please_...Just rest...please rest...!"

"...Lead...er...thank you...thank...you...tha...n...k..."

"...Krys'...? Hey...Hey, come on, Krys', answer me...Krystal! Answer me, _please_! Please! You...you can't...!"

"...Krys'...?" as Leader's head sunk, the silver-haired girl was gently lowered to her knees on the opposite side of Krystal by Trevor, having been helped over towards her. Her hands shook as she gently shook her friend's arm, reaching out to pinch her cheek for the girl's usual childish reaction. But nothing. Her eyes remained staring at Leader, a smile still on her face. No one could see Leader's face anymore, but it was clear by his shoulders now beginning to shake and Krystal's hand starting to slip down out of his grasp, what the truth was. And after a few moments of pure silence, all of the humans eyes in horror on the icy blue-haired girl, the only sound that was heard was the soft and sudden impact of Krystal's hand hitting the ground beside her.

And then, for the first time since any of them had met...Everyone witnessed Gina shed tears.

 **END**


	8. Chapter 8

**For A Future Not His Own**

 **CHAPTER 8**

 _Past_

"What do you think that was about?" Max asked, eyeing the twin doorway where his sister and their newest companion had disappeared through.

"I don't know, Max, but she said she had a bad feeling before she ran off...Something must be wrong..." Dawn pulled her crossed arms closer to her stomach, briefly glancing to the same doorway as the younger sibling. "Hopefully May catches her before anything happens."

"Maybe she really does know something about this hospital at this time, then?" Misty asked, the men of the group beginning to contemplate the idea while the blunette girl shook her head.

"No, I don't think so. I know I met her when she was still working with Ash, but I don't think she's the type of person to lie to someone's face. She only ever helped Ash because she believed in him and what he believed in, too-" she stopped as she heard the doors swing open, revealing three figures.

"I'm afraid your friend is going in for surgery right now, and visitors aren't allowed to be present. I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait out here."

"O...Okay. I'm sorry," the group watched as May gave a slight bow to the nurse before she disappeared back through the doors. As she straightened up again, they noticed a sense of vacancy in her eyes as she glanced over to Lexi, who was in an even more entranced state.

"May!" she turned her head, noticing her friends coming towards her with concerned looks. "What's that look for? Did something happen back there?"

"...Yeah..." Max grew increasingly worried at his elder sister's quiet response, while Dawn looked past her at Lexi.

"Lexi? Are...you o-" Dawn cut her question short when she noticed May's open palm come up, motioning for silence without her eyes looking in her direction.

"What...happened in there?" Brock asked carefully, looking between the two girls questioningly. As May glanced over to the absentminded blonde, she took a deep breath before turning back to them to respond. Then with the sound of the swinging doors moving once more, she looked back to now notice Lexi had disappeared again.

"Lexi..." May muttered in concern, motioning for the others to follow as she moved through the doors. The brunette guided them in the same path she had taken before, stopping at the intersection of corridors that she had earlier, noticing that Lexi was not there. She looked around curiously, finally noticing a doctor facing the girl at the end of a corridor.

"Please, you have to tell me where he is! Where was he taken? And why?" Lexi begged the doctor for answers, but the man seemed hesitant as he gave the girl a worried look.

"I'm sorry, but I don't have time to answer questions. I'm a part of the staff assigned to his surgery in a few minutes-"

"Please! What is the surgery for? Why did those other nurses seem so worried about him?" she pleaded, but the doctor tried to take a step away.

"I'm sorry, but-"

"Please, sir!" the man and Lexi turned around to see the rest of Lexi's group in the hallway, looking just as concerned as the young blonde as May held a hand against her chest, placing a hand on Lexi's shoulder. "She's his family."

"Wha- Family? But...that boy was registered as having no known relatives...!" the doctor looked at each member of the group in shock, the others shaking their heads and pointing at Lexi to avoid any confusion. He looked back at the young blonde, whose eyes showed nothing but worry and concern, making him look away in guilt. Then he gave a sigh. "...Okay, look. That boy was listed for an experimental surgery in the OR, in a hopeful effort to stabilize his health for the distant future. It's scheduled to start in a few minutes, just down there on the right-"

"Lexi, wait!" Dawn's plea fell on deaf ears as the blonde burst into a hurry down the hallway where the doctor had pointed to, coming to the corner and looking to her right to notice a pair of swinging doors with the words 'Operating Room' on a backlit sign hanging above. As she came closer to the doors, she noticed the sign was not lit up, but felt her body slow down as she began hearing urging voices of nurses and doctors from the other side of the doors. Everything in Lexi's brain was telling her to push through those doors, to find her friend and be there for him for whatever was going on, but the muscles of her body refused to move. Time seemed to come to a full stop for the girl as she couldn't focus on anything around her.

"Lexi, you can't keep running off like that!" May gave the blonde a concerned look, putting a hand on her shoulder as she and the rest of the group caught up to her. The doctor put himself between Lexi and the doors to the operating room, giving an apologetic look.

"I really am sorry, miss, but I can't allow you to wait here. Even if you're family. If all of you go to the waiting room, I'll be sure to come out to you as soon as the surgery is done. Excuse me," and with that, the group watched as the doctor disappeared through the doors into the room. Lexi felt a growing urge to follow him through as a few minutes passed, none of the others knowing what to say to her.

"...Come on, Lexi, we can't wait here," the brunette told her, looking sympathetic as Lexi noticed her pointing upwards. She followed the direction to the sign hanging above the doors, which was now lit up indicating an operation in progress. Reluctantly, the girl took a moment before she slowly nodded, following the others back to the waiting room.

* * *

The waiting room was nothing but bated breaths. Upon arrival, May had whispered to the others that they should give Lexi a bit of time to herself to collect her thoughts, which they were confused by but obliged. As May watched sadly as Lexi sat herself on the end chair and the group sat on the other end, she was questioned by each of her friends what had happened beyond those doors that put Lexi in such a state. She was reluctant, but she told them the truth about what Lexi had seen, much to their horror. They may not have understood their purpose in being brought to this hospital, but no one was expecting to hear that Jack was a patient here.

An hour passed without another word, each member of the group not daring to say anything. Brock had started bouncing his leg on the ground, focused on keeping the tapping sound inaudible while Max was struggling not to grind his teeth. The girls were casting occasional glances over to Lexi to make sure she was okay, but the blonde didn't seem to move no matter how much time passed: she simply sat with her elbows on her knees, leaning forward and staring at the ground with her hair hanging to hide her face.

"Jack's family?" the group nearly jumped out of their seats at the sudden voice, not even noticing that a doctor had come through the doors and stood in the middle of the room. The girls noticed Lexi's head straighten up immediately.

"Yes? What happened? Is Jack okay?" the blonde bombarded the doctor with questions, overwhelming him as she stood and got very close to him. May put her hand on the shoulder, making the blonde give her a curious look before apologizing. The doctor cleared his throat, looking over the papers on the clipboard in his hand.

"The good news is that Jack is stable now, resting and recovering just as easily as he ever has," the group breathed a sigh of relief at the doctor's words, though Lexi knew better.

"What's...the bad news?" she asked cautiously, May's hand not moving from her shoulder. The man seemed to hesitate.

"...I'm afraid the surgery didn't give the result we had hoped," the group didn't know what to say. May gave a worried look to Lexi, who only continued staring at the doctor. "His health, I'm afraid, is still deteriorating in a way that can't simply be cured by any medicinal treatment. The best we can do at the moment is continue treating him as we always have been, but...I'm not sure how much good it will do him."

"How is his health deteriorating? What do you mean by that?" Max asked.

"From what we've been able to gather from tests, he seems to suffer from some form of highly concentrated dormant anemia. From what we can tell, he must have had some sort of nutritional deficiency before or after birth, but all we could do at the time was theorize. And at the rate it's been progressing since he was first admitted, whatever this branch of anemia is, it's a lot more serious than just some fatigue, it might very well be a cause for concern on his lifespan..." Lexi's shoulders tensed up at the doctor's words. "If we knew for sure what the cause was, then we could at least attempt to find a more applicable treatment, but without knowing anything about the health in his family's history, we don't want to take any risks in altering his treatment," the professional explained, getting Dawn's attention.

"Wait, you don't know his family history?" she asked, the doctor giving a shake of his head. "But...How? Shouldn't you be able to look up the ones who brought him here? Like his parents?"

"We certainly would have...if we were able to," the group looked confused. "When Jack was first admitted here, it was his father who had brought him in. As far as we knew, his father was his only known family, and that man never gave us any more information on relatives. He wouldn't even say who the boy's mother was, so..."

"So, what?" Gary asked, the doctor pausing for a moment.

"We tried to work with what we had. We never questioned it. But then...it wasn't too long before the man abandoned Jack, and we never heard from him again," the group looked horrified. The doctor glanced around the waiting room, noticing it was empty. "...We never officially documented this, but in order to get an idea of the health in his family's history, we tried using the man's surname to find out who the mother was, but..."

"But what? What did you find?"

"Nothing we could consider concrete. In fact...we never even found the father. It's like the man had disappeared entirely,"

"But...how is that possible? You had met him! How could you not find him anymore?"

"There are a few possibilities. For one, he could have been deceased since that last day he was here, but even then we should have found a death record of sorts. The second, which we thought was more likely...is that he changed his name,"

"What? So...Jack's father is out there with a different name than the one you know?"

"It's only a possibility, but that could be. And with only the one lead we found, we never knew whether to pursue it or not, since it could only be a dead-end,"

"What was the lead?"

"A woman, with the same surname as Jack's father. It was the only one we could ever find who was still alive."

"What was the name?"

"Delia."

"...Really? But that's-" Brock paused after the doctor's nod, something occurring to him. "Hey, Lexi, didn't you say that Jack told you Ash is his uncle? ...Lexi?"

"Lexi? Hey, what's wrong?" May asked, suddenly growing concerned as she noticed the blonde's face had grown pale. Her eyes were wide, as if she were looking at something horrible. "Lexi? Hey, come on, talk to me!"

"No way..." her voice was quiet, her lower lip beginning to tremble as it finally started coming together. It was staring her in the face the whole time.

* * *

 _"It was me. I'm the reason Leader lied to you."_

* * *

The reason that Jack and Leader had been so secretive.

* * *

 _"And I'm fine with that," the three looked surprised at Jack's words. "Like I said, it doesn't matter if you guys don't trust me. All that matters is that you support Leader and help him if he needs it, because the two of you can help him more than I can do alone. Same goes for the others."_

 _"But why are you willing to throw yourself under the bus to just keep the truth from us?!" Lexi asked desperately, but the man only smiled as he looked towards the sky._

* * *

The reason he was so desperate to keep them from finding out.

* * *

 _"I need to know about your other children, besides Lead- Ash. I'm not sure if it's your son or daughter, but they have a son named Jack. I need to know about his past, so I have to know about your child that had him."_

 _"...I suppose I knew someone who learn about him, eventually..."_

* * *

The truth about what had really happened with Ash's twin at birth.

* * *

 _"Well, that's good to hear-" Lexi cut short. "...Wait..._ They _?"_

 _"That's right. I wasn't just carrying a baby...I was carrying twin boys."_

* * *

How could she not see it before?

* * *

 _"The doctors said there was...a complication..."_

* * *

The complication...It was so obvious, but she had never even considered it.

* * *

 _"He saw that it was twins, not just one baby, and started yelling about me betraying him. It's safe to say that on that day, me and him were through, from that day onward with no chance of recovery," Delia smiled weakly to herself, rubbing her thumbs together on her lap. "...But, he also wanted his chance at parenthood. So he suggested that we each take one son."_

 _"He wanted to split them up?" Lexi asked, bewildered._

 _"And so, that day was the last day that either of my boys saw each other. It wasn't long before I decided on naming Ash, but as for what his father named his brother, or even where they went...I never knew."_

* * *

And the truth of Leader and Jack's cryptic words at Spear Pillar...

* * *

 _"You shouldn't be digging around for his past," the blonde watched Leader lower his hand back to his side, his words confusing the girl. "Jack has never spoken of his past because he has not only suffered just as much as you have, but he has gone through worse. He's chosen not to bring up his past so none of you would view him any differently, so I suggest you respect his wishes."_

 _"...Worse...?" Lexi was at a loss for words as she looked back at Jack, who looked away. Stuffing his other hand back in his pocket, he turned away took a few steps closer towards the lake guardians. "Jack...Why didn't you ever say that..."_

 _"Like Leader said, so you wouldn't think of me differently."_

* * *

"Whoa, Lexi!" Dawn immediately grew concerned as the blonde suddenly fell to her knees, her face still frozen in horror as all the pieces finally fit together in her mind. It all made sense now. "Hey, what's wrong? Talk to us!"

"That's why...he was always so kind..." May crouched beside the girl, becoming even more concerned as he felt the girl's shoulder begin to tremble beneath her hand. Lexi's head sunk low. "...Why he was so nice...and why he cared so much...about everyone...!"

"Come on, Lexi, what is it? Did you just realize something?" Max asked, trying to reach for the girl's shoulder but felt someone grab it in the air. He looked questioningly at Gary, the researcher's grip tightening on it slightly as he looked to the doctor.

"That woman you found, named Delia...her surname was Ketchum, wasn't it?" he asked, the doctor pausing before giving a nod.

"As was Jack's father's," in that moment, the rest of the group understood the truth that Lexi had just come to realize. None of them knew what to say, nor could they feel that they actually believed it. The only sound heard was the occasional sob from the blonde as her head sank to the floor, her forehead touching against it as a tear hit the tile beneath her face.

"He was always supportive...and he helped take us in, with Leader...He knew our stories, but...he never shared his..." more tears began to hit the floor tiles as her shoulder trembled more in May's hand, the brunette watching her with a sad look. She wanted to say something, but knew she couldn't: none of them could know what Lexi was going through right now. "...Why...Since _birth_...I don't care if I would think of him differently...Why would he suffer in silence...by himself...?!"

* * *

 _Present_

Spear Pillar was silent. Not even a breeze blew across the mountaintop: the air was still, almost chillingly so. The alpha pokemon stared down at the group of humans, feeling nothing as they remained crouched around the female human, who it could recognize was no longer moving. Which only meant one thing to the mystical being.

"...you..." the alpha couldn't hear the man's voice, but watched him slowly rise to his feet. The man slowly turned towards it, taking shaky and occasional steps with his head low. "...How...dare...you..."

 _ **"You really think it wise to continue-"**_

"SHUT UP!" the alpha was surprised, to say the least, at the man's sudden tone. A chill went down the spine of every living being on the mountaintop, apart from the legendary pokemon: except for one. Mesprit felt its body start to tremble. As the being of emotion, it could sense the feelings of those around it. And right now, from that man...she could sense nothing but seething hatred.

 _ **"You**_ **dare** _ **attempt to silence me?"**_ the alpha's voice boomed through the silence, slamming its foot down into the ground. Leader didn't respond, nor did he even lift his head to acknowledge the god, which angered it. The man simply reached his hand towards his belt, unclipping a small sphere and holding it up above his head. Clicking the button, the sphere enlarged in his hand, the purple color and signature 'M' becoming visible as it opened, a brilliant beam of blue light emerging from the sphere and shooting into the air above him. The alpha's eyes followed the light, watching it take shape into the form of the black dragon.

"Zekrom...destroy it..." Mesprit pulled its arms closer to its body, hugging itself as it began shaking more.

 _ **"Mesprit? What is it?"**_ Azelf asked, noticing the change in its sister's demeanor. Uxie and Azelf watched in concern as she simply shook her head, pulling her hands up to the side of her head as if trying to contain a headache, her eyes clenched shut.

 _ **"You dare challenge me, human?"**_ Arceus asked, the black dragon glancing down to its master as his fists trembled at his sides.

"You ask that...when _you_ dare hurt my friend...my _family_...?" his voice was low and coarse, his knuckles starting to turn white as he took another step towards the god. "No...I'm not challenging you...because the moment you killed my family...you challenged _ME_!"

 _ **"Nothing but insolence-!"**_ the alpha was taken back as Zekrom roared at it, angering the god as it began to charge a Hyper Beam on its forehead. It wasn't expecting, however, to feel something collide and explode on the side of its body, making it grunt as the attack was cut off. Its head turned with eyes of anger to see the deity of time facing it in the air, giving a roar before firing a second blue sphere of energy from its mouth. The golden wheel around the god's body turned to a shade of violet, the sphere disappearing on contact with its body without effect. _**"You**_ **dare-** _ **"**_ the god grunted once more as another explosion occurred on its side from the opposite direction, its head turning to see the deity of space give a roar of its own. _**"What do you think you're**_ **doing** _ **?!"**_

 _ **"Simple!"**_ the god's eyes were directed down to the man, who now had the three lake guardians floating above his head, Mesprit still trembling slightly but managing to hold her own. _**"We're preserving life! And preventing any more deaths of those who are innocent!"**_

 _ **"You would side with a human over ME?!"**_ Mason, Webb and Trevor watched in awe as the man didn't even flinch at the god's voice, merely remaining still with his head still down. They each exchanged nervous glances, then gave a shared nod as they each pulled a pokeball from their belt. Arceus' rage intensified as it watched the three male humans move to their friend's side - with Trevor helping Webb to move - as well as a graceful white swan, a four-armed bulky humanoid, and a large round blue mass of small vines with two long arms on either side. _**"You would all die in a meaningless battle against your**_ **god** _ **?!"**_

"I would gladly die here today..." the three men looked to Leader, seeing his fists at his side begin to tremble once more. Then to their surprise, he finally raised his head, looking up at the alpha pokemon. Arceus could see that his eyes were dark. Darker than any of its creations. Darker than any human it had ever encountered. It was the kind of darkness of a void that was left behind after something was gone. Something that it had taken away from the man. "But this battle...is _anything_ but meaningless! And for the sake of my friend - the life that _you_ took - I will gladly fight to my dying breath to see you _suffer_ today: just as you have made all of US!"

 _ **"You still stand no chance!"**_ the god boomed, another Hyper Beam starting on its forehead.

"DRAGONBREATH!"

"Hydro Pump!"

"Focus Blast!"

"Hyper Beam!"

 _ **"I will not stand for such**_ **insolence** _ **!"**_ the alpha boomed, firing the Hyper Beam down on the group. Zekrom gave a roar as it released a stream of green flames, joined by a weaker version of Arceus' attack, a powerful jet of water and blue sphere of concentrated energy as all four attacks joined together to collide against the god's fury. For a moment, it seemed as if the attacks were about to be broken, but the eyes of the three lake guardians began to glow a light blue, appearing to strengthen the force of their attacks as Arceus' Hyper Beam started to be inched backwards. The deities of time and space each gave a roar as they fired Hyper Beams of their own at both sides of the alpha, exploding on contact which made its Hyper Beam break, the joined attacks pushing through and exploding on the alpha as well, releasing a thick cloud of smoke all around it. The two deities hovered in place, giving another joined roar as they and the group on the ground watched the smoke carefully. Then suddenly, a strange gust of silver wind cleared the smoke, bursting in every direction. Leader and his friends shielded their faces as the lake guardians hovered in front of them, summoning a pink sphere of psychic energy around them that blocked the attack.

"Machamp, protect Swanna and Tangrowth!" Mason shouted, the four-armed humanoid holding its arms out to either side as the other two moved closer to it, a blue sphere of protective energy forming around them. Dialga and Palkia roared as they tried raising barriers of their own, but Arceus' attack broke through them and struck their bodies, the deities wavering as they struggled to hold themselves in the air.

 _ **"If you insist on fighting, then you will know my POWER!"**_ Arceus' voice boomed as a short beam of energy burst upward into the air above them, exploding into several smaller beams that descended to the mountaintop.

"Dialga! Palkia!" the two dragons looked at Leader curiously at the sound of his voice, noticing his hand pointing away from Arceus in a particular direction. The two quickly hovered off the ground, making their way in the direction he was pointing as they formed a blue and pink sphere of energy around themselves, receiving the fragments of the Judgment attack to protect the three humans beneath them.

* * *

"Why...?" Jack's fist remained clenched on the rubble beneath him, his teeth clenched as he felt tear after tear drip from his eye onto the ground. He slowly looked up at the motionless girl in front of him, never having moved from her side despite the chaos occurring not far from them. On Krystal's opposite side was Gina, who was in a similar state to Jack as tears flowed down her cheeks, struggling to hold her upper body off the ground as she clenched her friend's motionless hand. The explosions of colliding attacks didn't phase either of them as they remained focused on their deceased friend, sobbing sadly at the sight of the weak smile still on her face.

"Jack..." the man was almost startled, shocked as he slowly looked over at the girl who had finally spoken. He was also surprised to hear sounds from the other two sad beings who had stayed by the girl's side. "May I...borrow incineroar...?"

* * *

"Focus Blast!" the machamp threw another sphere of focused energy at the alpha, its golden arch turning a light purple as the attack dissipated into thin air before the god fired a powerful blast of flames at the fighting-type. It managed to muster a Protect in time before the flames reached it, but a cry of pain was heard shortly after as it came bursting out of the flames on its back, hitting the ground hard. "Machamp!"

"Swanna, Aqua Ring!" Mason watched in awe as the swan flew beside it, a ring of water appearing around the pair as they both started to glow. He looked over to Trevor, who gave him a brief nod.

"Tangrowth, hold it with Power Whip!" the alpha grunted as two thick vines suddenly wrapped around its body. The god tried to fly away, shouting angrily as the vine pokemon grunted, feeling its feet start to drag across the stone beneath it. "Leader!"

"Bolt Strike!" the alpha's eyes were directed to the black dragon, who became engulfed in a blue aura that seemed to crackle as it charged through the air towards it. The alpha released a strange purple energy from its forehead which moved into the air in front of it, quickly spinning and altering the air around it as it became a powerful vortex of energy. Zekrom's charge was halted as it felt itself dragged off-course, the electricity around it cutting off as it roared, struggling to keep itself from being dragged away by the Twister.

 _ **"You may befriend pokemon, but I will never allow you to**_ **control** _ **them!"**_ the alpha's angry voice got Leader's attention, making him see the god circle the Twister as it fired a blast of flames at the man. He clenched his teeth, the three lake guardians holding their arms out to summon a psychic barrier.

"Protect!"

Before the lake trio could summon their own protection, a beam of blue light came in front the side to strike the ground in front of them, a large round figure appearing between them and the attack. The figure held its arms out to both sides, a blue sphere of energy appearing around itself, the lake guardians and the three humans as the flames reached them, spreading over the protective field but never penetrating it. "R-Registeel?" Webb asked in surprise, the iron golem giving an almost-computerized response of its name before the flames suddenly stopped, the sphere disappearing. "Then that's-!"

"Articuno, break that Twister! And Glaceon, Ice Beam!"

Leader and the three men each breathed a quiet sigh of relief as they heard the loud battle-cry of a bird, also noticing a small light-blue fox running across the stone and jumping into the air, launching a beam of ice at the alpha pokemon which left a small chunk of ice on the left side of its torso. At the same time, the graceful frost bird flew into the air and stopped in front of the Twister, flapping its wings powerfully to create an intense force of wind that cut through it, allowing Zekrom to escape safely. It gave a thankful growl to the bird, who gave a happy screech before it turned its attention to the alpha, giving a second and not-so-friendly screech with a burning anger in its eyes.

"I may not be...much help..." Leader's attention was brought to the side, surprised to see a very injured Gina struggling to take a step, her arm around the neck of Jack's incineroar as it helped her move. Her cheeks were clearly still wet from the tears, but a weak smirk began to grow across her face. "But...I heard you...and if you're willing to die, Leader...for Krys' sake...then don't you dare leave me out."

"Gina..." the man couldn't find the words to respond to the girl, watching as Trevor quickly made his way to her opposite side to help support her. But then he soon found himself smiling. "...I would never think of it," he looked at the others, who each grew a smile of their own. The man put a fist over his heart, taking a deep breath. "...For Krystal."

"...For Krystal," Mason put a fist to his own chest.

"For Krys'," Webb's fist touched his chest.

"For Krystal," Trevor carefully copied them, trying not to move too much for Gina's sake. Casting a glance to his side, he noticed the girl's hand start trembling as it struggled to raise into the air. Then the silver-haired girl felt a hand touch hers.

"...For my sister," Gina smiled weakly to Trevor, the man returning a smile as his hand held her fist against her chest. Mesprit glanced down at herself, noticing that her trembling had finally stopped, looking at Leader in awe as she cracked a comforted smile. Then a serious look came over all of their faces, each looking to the source of their anger and sorrow.

 _ **"You question my position with such**_ **weakness** _ **?! Do you truly claim that you could be a better god than**_ **I** _ **?!"**_ the god bellowed, Leader turning his body to face the alpha.

"I may not know the answer to that...but I'm _damn well_ willing to find out!"

 _ **"Then so BE IT!"**_

"Zekrom, Fusion Bolt!"

"Machamp, Focus Blast!"

"Swanna, Hydro Pump!"

"Tangrowth, Power Whip!"

"Ice Beam, both of you! And Registeel, Hyper Beam!"

The alpha shouted angrily as it fired another Hyper Beam down at the group of annoyance, watching as the pokemon gathered around the five humans and unleashed each of their attacks together, colliding against its own. The alpha's eyes drifted to either side of it, noticing that Dialga and Palkia had moved to either side of it and were preparing their signature moves. The alpha's pupils contracted, turning its head to face Palkia before it suddenly received a powerful blow to its front, making it shout in anger. It swiped its leg through the air, dispersing the smoke from the explosion as it glared down at the group of pokemon and humans responsible. It hadn't expected their attacks to break through so easily - let alone cause it _pain_!

 _ **"You will pay dearly for that-!"**_

"And you will pay for what _YOU'VE_ DONE!" Gina screamed at the top of her lungs, ignoring the pain it caused her as she showed no trace of fear towards the god.

 _ **"Let's see how well you support that claim!"**_

"Registeel, Lock-On! Articuno and Glaceon, get around it!" the silver-haired girl shouted, the iron golem launching a small target from its palm at the alpha as the frost bird circled around its side in the air and the fox ran straight beneath it.

* * *

Jack's fist slammed into the ground beside him, ignoring the pain it caused him as his lip trembled. He still remained by Krystal's side, no longer motivated by only his regret for what happened to his friend, but also Gina's words from minutes earlier when she had insisted on joining the fight occurring not far from him.

 _"'Protect her for me', huh...? Look how much good it did_ her _to trust me!"_ the man clenched his teeth, another tear escaping his eye as he stared at the body of his friend. "...To hell with that! It should have been me, dammit, it's my fault! Krys' didn't deserve this!" he shouted, suddenly feeling weak as he gave a few coughs. Feeling the strength in his body begin to come and go, he turned his head to notice his salamence and salazzle remaining loyally behind him, each with a concerned look on their face. His eyes drifted over to the god being attacked from several directions but holding its own using the power of its life plates, the man chuckled weakly before he coughed again. He pushed his fists against the ground, bringing one of his knees up so his foot pressed to the ground.

"Salazzle, salamence, can I ask you to stay here with her?" the dragon and lizard gave a nod as the man moved himself away, his feet growing shaky as the dragon laid its body beside hers and wrapped its wings and tail around to cover her entirely, the lizard standing in front of them with its attention on the battle. The man smiled, giving the lizard a nod before turning his head towards the grand battle occurring in front of him, chuckling weakly as he crossed his arms behind his head.

"Well...This sure is gonna suck one way or another, isn't it?"

* * *

"Swanna, help out Tangrowth!"

"Glaceon, you help too!"

"Zekrom, help Articuno with that Twister!"

"Machamp, Stone Edge!"

The commands were called one after another, each having a minimal effect in the overall battle as the alpha continued to overpower them the moment they broke apart from each other. How was it still so easily able to stand its ground against _all_ of them? Leader bit his lip, watching as Zekrom broke through the twister alongside Articuno, then narrowly avoided a Flamethrower from the alpha. Webb gave a worried look, glancing around at their situation against the god. "Leader, I don't mean to be a downer, but..."

"This doesn't seem to be working," Trevor made no hesitation in finishing his friend's sentence, which Leader was not surprised by. He could just as easily see that this battle was not going as well as he had hoped, and even with the help of the legendaries, they seemed to be barely holding their own. He looked up at the alpha, his eyes narrowing on it as he felt his anger starting to rise again, taking deep breaths to not let his emotions get the best of him. He watched the alpha draw its head back, a glowing energy starting to form on its forehead until something took it by surprise. As well as everyone else who had witnessed it. Everyone's eyes - even those of Arceus - followed the small stone as it fell through the air until it hit the ground, the god's red eyes looking in the direction that it had come from.

"Yeah! You want some more?" Leader's eyes, as well as everyone else's, were drawn to the source of the voice, their facial expressions changing to one of utter confusion and amusement as they noticed Jack standing there, grinning as he tossed a small chunk of stone a short distance in the air before it fell into his palms again, repeating this several times.

"Jack...Are you serious...?"

"He can't be...right?"

"Something tells me...he actually is..."

"Leader...?" everyone's eyes looked to Leader, unable to get a read on what he thought based on his expression.

"...I have no idea what to think anymore..." everyone looked back to Jack, who had started to walk towards them as he continued to toss the stone in his palm, his eyes not leaving the divine being in the sky.

"Gotta be honest, I'm impressed I even hit it..." the group watched in disbelief as he talked to himself out loud, his eyes finally drifting over to them as he stopped a short distance from them. The grin on his face faded, the corner of his mouth sinking downward as he noticed the odd looks on their faces. "...Okay, I get it, you don't want me to be here, but I'm not here this time to start fights-"

"Actually...I think fighting might be what we need right now," Mason told him, pointing his thumb at the almighty pokemon. Jack gave a puzzled look. "Jack...Not to be rude, but we need all the help we can get in taking Arceus down."

"Yeah, you have been kinda suckin' it so far, haven't you?" everyone's eyebrow - save for Leader - twitched in frustration at the man's remark, watching him cross his arms behind his head as he smirked at the alpha.

"What are you doing here?" Leader asked in a serious tone, Jack arching an eyebrow as he looked at him.

"Really? You're seriously asking that?" he asked sarcastically, moving towards Gina, who was still being supported by Trevor and incineroar.

"Jack, you are in no condition to be-"

"If you're not kicking Gina to the sidelines in _that_ condition, you sure as hell aren't making me budge, Leader," the silver-haired girl watched him curiously as he took her arm from incineroar and slung it around his own shoulder, taking the fire-type's place as it stepped away from them. "I know you guys don't fully trust me and probably don't want to, but it's like Mason said. You need all the help you can get here."

"Jack..." the others looked to Leader, wondering whether he would allow this or not. To their surprise - or perhaps not - he merely smirked at Jack. "...You better not slack off like usual, then."

"Ouch, I'm hurt," Jack said in a fake-hurt tone, giving a look of unconvincing innocence. Then he broke into a smile, rolling his eyes before looking at the alpha who had been watching them rather intently. "Alright, you overgrown sack of potatoes! If you really want a fight, then how about you make it fair? Get down here and face us properly!"

"This cannot be happening..." Trevor muttered, his head sinking with a disappointed expression at his friend's taunting words. Between the two men, Gina's eyes looked over to Jack in pure surprise before she cracked a small smile, stifling back a laugh. Jack would always be the same idiot they've always known, no matter the situation.

 _ **"This fight does not involve you, human. You would be wise to value your life and stay out of it,"**_ the divine being told him, but Jack simply chuckled and shook his head.

"Oh, this sure as hell involves me! Because you made the mistake of not only killing an innocent human, but someone who was very important to me!"

 _ **"You do not understand your pl-"**_

"No, _you_ don't understand! That girl was my friend - my _family_! And you let her die without a care in the world! And if you don't understand what it's like to lose someone close to you, then you've been playing god for too damn long!"

 _ **"So, you still wish to take my place, then?"**_

"Damn straight!"

"And don't forget he's not alone!" Jack looked over to Leader in surprise, watching him start to walk towards the god. "Your reign over this world is over, Arceus! You're no god because you've failed to uphold a basic principle - mercy!"

 _ **"You think there is mercy in being god?"**_

"There should be!" Arceus' eyes turned to the human with orange hair, its eyes narrowing on him. "If you can't provide and protect for the innocent, then you have no right to call yourself god!"

"He's right!" Arceus started to grow angrier as he looked to the blue-haired human next. "If all you do is destroy anyone who opposes you, then you're not being a god! You're being a tyrant! And a tyrant like you does not deserve the power that you hold!"

 _ **"You speak as if you understand what it's like!"**_

"Maybe we don't!" he looked back down to Leader, who had started getting closer with a serious look on his face. "Maybe we're just being foolish humans, but we've still gained knowledge over the centuries! And we know by now that a god should have _purpose_ , and not just sit idly by to watch! You say that we don't know what it's like to be a god, but _you_ don't know what it's like to be one of _us_! A mortal who knows that their life will eventually end, and has to make every second of it count!"

 _ **"Then perhaps your final moment has finally**_ **come** _ **!"**_ the god quickly unleashed a Hyper Beam from its forehead, the eyes of Leader's friends widening as the man didn't stop walking. Leader didn't even close his eyes, watching as the attack drew closer in mere seconds. But to everyone's shock, the attack exploded as it collided with something before reaching the man. Before the smoke even cleared, everyone was surprised to hear a familiar screeching sound, seeing a pair of black ghost-like wings with three red spikes on them extend from either side of the smoke. The cloud then cleared in an instant as they flapped, revealing the golden-plated face of the ruler of the Distortion World poking out of a purple vortex on the ground. The dragon then disappeared through the portal again, closing it as Leader continued walking, unfazed.

"Power like yours shouldn't belong to someone like you!" Arceus' eyes narrowed on the man angrily, noticing Giratina emerge from another portal behind the other humans as it took their side, facing it. "If you won't do any good for this world, then it's time that _god_ becomes someone who will!"

 _ **"...And what would you do, human?"**_ the alpha's question seemed to hang in the air, Leader not responding right away. He glanced to the side, seeing his friends in the edge of his peripheral, as well as Jack's two pokemon a distance away looking rather defensive. His eyes focused on them for a bit, then he gave a quiet sigh to himself.

"Maybe not what I originally thought..." he muttered to himself quietly, the god's eyes still staring at him for an answer. He then looked at the alpha. "...I would protect those I care about. If your power is almighty, then it should be able to grant life, isn't that right?"

 _ **"And what if it can?"**_

"...Then it's obvious. I would save my friend - my _family_ , who gave her life for what she believed in and cared about. Even if I didn't ask her to..." the man glanced back to the protective salamence and salazzle, frowning as he clenched his fist at his side. "Someone like Krystal could never deserve to die like this. She did nothing but care for those around her, and even though she could fight back, she never did it out of spite. It was only to protect what, and _who_ she cared about," the man raised his fist into the air, the alpha hearing a roar as the black dragon moved towards the man, hovering in the air above him as it stared the god down. Then Leader's friends watched as though a miracle were occurring right before their eyes: one by one, the powerful and fearsome beings known as legendary pokemon, joined the man's side. Arceus' eyes contracted in anger as it watched its own creations, Dialga and Palkia, take up either side of Zekrom, followed by Giratina and the lake guardians, then the frosty bird and iron golem, who stood on the ground by the humans, as well as the handful of other pokemon commanded by the humans. The alpha's eyes looked down to the man with his fist in the air, a serious look on his face as the god's rage started to seethe.

 _ **"You...You all dare to side with a single**_ **human** _ **over me...?!"**_ the god was met with a series of roars, screeches and calls in response, signifying their choice. _**"Then your ignorance will not go ignored...You will receive the same judgment that this human faces!"**_

"Then it's a good thing they're not just siding with a human!" the god's eyes narrowed on Jack, who with the help of Trevor, assisted Gina to Leader's side, smiling. Mason and Webb joined the man on his opposite side. Jack pointed a finger up at the alpha. "Because it's not just _a_ human against you! And this day will make its mark in human history as the day that this world finally gets a god that it deserves!"

 _ **"Then I look forward to seeing who comes the closest to attaining it!"**_ the alpha's voice boomed, already preparing a Hyper Beam. As Giratina extended its wings, Jack and Leader shared a knowing look, as well as a grin.

"As long as it means bringing you down, then so do we!"

* * *

 _Past_

"He still needs plenty of rest, so I must ask you try to keep quiet," the doctor said, stepping to the side of the door.

"Thank you, doctor, really," May received a nod from the health care professional as the last of the group moved into the room, then he closed the door behind them. May's eyes drifted over to Lexi, who had already parted from the group as she slowly made her way towards the bed.

"Jack..." she felt a pain in her chest at the sight of him: a few thin tubes were hooked into his arms connected to an IV beside the bed with a few small pouches of red liquid. He also had plastic clips attached to his nostrils, his body hidden beneath the bedsheets up to his chest as his eyes remained close, his breath competing with the beeping of the machine beside him reading his vitals. The blonde started to reach her hand out towards him, but stopped herself, her other hand clenching into a fist over her chest. "...Why would you never tell us...idiot...?" then she noticed something in the side of her eye.

"Do you...recognize that, Lexi?" Dawn asked, watching the blonde pick up one of the two items on the nightstand beside the bed. What remained on the nightstand was a single ballpoint pen, while the item Lexi had taken was something she recognized more personally.

"This is...Jack's notebook..." she looked over the simple cover, flipping it over to see the back was identical. It looked barely worn down. "...He always had this, everywhere we traveled with Leader. Claimed he was writing a novel, but his inspiration never lasted very long...but he never let anyone see anything that he wrote..."

"So...You don't know what's in that book? And none of the others, either?" Misty asked, the blonde girl giving a slow nod as she eyed the notebook in her hand intently. The group watched as she continued to look at it with great interest, not making any sort of move for almost a minute before she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"He would definitely complain like a child if he ever found out...but I guess this is my only chance," she said, taking another deep breath as she gripped the edge of the front cover before slowly flipping it. Her brow furrowed as she noticed the first page to meet her eyes was empty, looking left at the back of the cover to notice only the word 'Jack' written in small print in the upper corner. So she decided to flip another page, this time her eyes being met with a series of words written in blue ink. The words were fairly kept towards the center of the page, aligned in an even and tidy fashion. Lexi started reading a few of the first lines from the top of the page, her brow slowly starting to furrow.

 _X take a nap in a public place_  
 _X spend a night under the stars_  
 _X have lunch with someone who willingly takes bill_  
 _get a nickname from a friend_  
 _X have a nickname for a friend_  
 _X run away without getting caught_  
 _find a girl who doesn't slap me when I give compliments_  
 _X have a group dinner_  
 _X spend an entire day having fun with others_

"What...is this...?" the girl asked herself, her eyes narrowing more and more on each word she read. Unbeknownst to her in her focus, May had begun to carefully come closer towards her, as well as Dawn.

"'Nap in public'...There's no grammar. And all these sentences don't relate to each other at all," Dawn stated, her eyes curiously peering down at the book's content. "Didn't you say he was writing a novel?"

"That's what he told the rest of us, but it's not like we ever saw it ourselves. We just took his word for it," Lexi's eyes broke from the words on the page, drifting over to Jack's resting expression on the hospital bed. "But what is all of this stuff...?"

"I think I might know," the blonde and blunette's eyes looked to May, who pointed down at the paper. "Look, most of those ones have an X in front of them," the two girls looked down, realizing that she was right. With how the lines were aligned neatly, with each first word starting at the same point, Lexi had somehow not noticed that a number of the lines that she had read did, in fact, have an X in the empty space before the first word.

"Hey, you're right," Dawn commented, noticing the presence of Xs. Lexi's eyes scanned down the rest of the page, noticing a number of more Xs where some every now and then did not have one. Then she flipped the page, quickly skimming the next page from top to bottom. The next page was filled every line with the same series of unrelated sentences, a random series of them having an X at the start of the line. The blonde's eyes narrowed on the page as she flipped back to the previous one, then casting a look of awareness to May as it dawned on her.

"It's a list...but not just that..." May looked to Lexi, seeing the girl's facial expression start to change as she began to realize what she was holding. She began to separate the lines in her mind and thought about them: Xs versus no-Xs. She knew for a fact that Jack had fallen asleep in public, much to her own embarrassment because Leader wasn't present at the time and _she_ had to deal with it. She, Leader and the others had spent several nights camping outside under a starlit sky, including Jack. And though it might not be a real nickname, Jack does address Krystal by 'Krys' a lot. But no one ever really gave him a nickname of his own besides his actual name. And considering the other one she read that didn't have an X, she had a sneaking suspicion that _that_ hadn't happened.

"What kind of list is it?" Max asked, Lexi casting another glance over to the peacefully-resting Jack with a solemn expression.

"I think...it's a bucket list," her statement made the rest of the group, save for May, give looks of confusion. "...But if that's true...then all this time, since before we met...he was always keeping track of this, every day we all spent together...but why...?"

"Maybe you already know," her eyes looked to the brunette, as well as everyone else's as she gave Lexi a disheartened expression. "Lexi...Why exactly did you first join Ash?"

"Huh?" the girl blinked, her brow furrowing slightly. The brunette didn't say anything more, nor did anyone else in the group as they waited for her response. The former follower of their old friend brought a fist up to her chest, glancing down at it with a small frown.

"Or if I know Ash...Why did _any_ of you decide to join him?" May's second question didn't seem to make it any easier, the blonde still appearing uncertain as she stared down at her fist. "Besides Jack or Ash, why are any of you traveling with him?"

"...He was the first one to understand me..." the group watched quietly as the girl closed her eyes. "...For myself, at least...it was because he was someone I feel like I could relate to. Someone who didn't see me only for my past mistakes, but for my potential...and as someone he could grow to care about."

"Was it something similar for the others?" Lexi seemed to hesitate for a short time, finally giving a slight nod. May's eyes drifted over to Jack as she put her hand on Lexi's shoulder. "...It must have been the same for him, then."

"The same...? What does that mean?" Dawn asked, blinking in confusion at her friend's words. May nodded her head to the notebook.

"Think about the things that are written. A lot of those are simple things to do, and he's had this since he grew up in this hospital as a kid. And though he never admitted it, I think it's because deep down...he was no different than the rest of you."

"But that's just _another_ riddle!" her younger brother sighed, scratching his hair with both hands in frustration. Lexi eyed the brunette curiously, then looked down at the pages in her hand.

"...Because he wanted a real home..." the girl's eyes softened, reading over some of the lines again and feeling her lips slowly curl into a smile. Some of the sentences were just as May said: simple. Then some made Lexi want to laugh, knowing the man could never achieve - most of which involved 'successfully' interacting with women. May started becoming concerned as she wondered if what she thought was true, which only grew as she noticed the corner of the blonde's eye start to form a familiar liquid. "He grew up in this hospital, with no one...so all he wanted was a family who cared about him...and to do all the things that friends or family do..." May's eyes softened as she watched the girl's emotions start to get the better of her, forcing her to wipe her finger along the underside of her eye. She cast a worried look to Dawn, who had put a supportive hand on Lexi's opposite shoulder, sharing the same look.

"Hey...Come on, let's go get something to eat. I'm sure he'll want something when he wakes up, too," the blunette said, a reassuring smile on her face as the blonde looked at her curiously. She seemed to hesitate before finally giving a small nod, the blunette leading her out of the room into the hallway as the rest of the group followed. May came out into the hallway last, closing the door quietly behind her as she heard her friends start to try to cheer the girl up. The brunette followed the group down the hallway in their search of the cafeteria, not taking long before she cast a glance over her shoulder back to the door of Jack's room, frowning as she couldn't imagine how Lexi was taking all of this as well as she was. This was shocking enough for May and her friends, but Lexi? She's been with Jack for a long time, and didn't know any of this. Her eyes narrowed on the doorway slightly, giving a quiet sigh to herself as she started to turn her head back, but then her feet stopped. In the side of her eye, down the hallway, she noticed two figures pass the corner of a conjoined hallway that ran across: the first was a doctor, as expected in a hospital. But the second man the one that made her stop in her tracks.

"Ash...?"

 **END**


	9. Chapter 9

**For A Future Not His Own**

 **CHAPTER 9**

 _Past_

"So, what does Jack like to eat?" Dawn asked, casting a curious glance to Lexi beside her. The group had finally managed to find the cafeteria after a bit of searching, and now stood side-by-side in front of the counter as they all looked up at the menus hung above.

"Anything that's edible, really..." Lexi answered, trailing off as her eyes broke away from the menu to look at the others standing with her. As her eyes traveled from person to person, she slowly grew an expression of confusion. "Hey...Where's May?"

* * *

The man walked down the hospital corridor, his eyes scanning both sides carefully as he passed door after door. He had managed to avoid most doctors and nurses, and the few that had approached him he had convinced he was a lost visitor before getting away. He seemed to wander aimlessly, having trailed along each hallway he came across, trying to cover as much ground as he could. Though it was without direction: he had no goal. Just...a feeling. And that was all he could rely on right now. And it's not like he would run into anyone he knew here, either. He had never been to this hospital before, so the chances of running into anyone familiar were slim to none.

"Ash."

His feet stopped. That...voice...Why did it sound so familiar? It took not even a moment for him to find his answer: he knew that voice. It was the one that never left his mind, no matter how much time passed. No matter how much a part of him wanted to forget the pain and regret that came with it. And with a slow cautious turn of his head, he found himself staring into the same sapphire blue eyes that came with it.

"...May..." the brunette took a careful step towards him, noticing one of his legs take a step back from her. She stopped, a pinch in her chest as she took a deep breath, never moving her eyes from his.

"W...What are you doing here?" he asked, the man not looking away from her. They both knew without a spoken word that this was because he wasn't expecting to see her here: nor was she expecting him. But now, standing face-to-face, that was falling towards the back of their thoughts. They were becoming more bothered by the mixed feelings within them. May still wanted to think of him as _her_ Ash: kind, caring, considerate and determined. But all she could see was Leader, the cold, calculating mastermind behind the trouble that's dragged her from region to region. And as for the man...no matter how determined he had been to change - to alter himself and attempt to make real contribution to the world - all he could see was the girl he loved.

"I could ask you the same," her tone wasn't angry or overbearing like he expected. It was the same as he could remember: gentle. She swallowed her breath, a warm sensation starting to spread from her chest the longer she stared at him. The corners of her lips had begun to curl upward, but paused when they noticed that the man's facial expression hadn't changed. Not in the slightest. "...Why are you here, A-"

"Stop," the brunette nearly flinched at his protest. He turned his head away, his cold eyes looking down at the ground beside him. "...I...am not that person anymore. I've...changed..."

"That doesn't matter, Ash," the man's eyes closed at the sound of his name, a troubled look coming across his face. The brunette took a slow and cautious step towards him. "I don't care if you think you've changed...No matter how you changed, or what you've done, or what you're here to do, none of it matters because you're still Ash! You're still the same sweet boy who helped me when I first started my journey, and made me see how amazing it was to be with pokemon and make as many friends as possible! And there is no change you could have made that would make me see otherwise!"

"I am not that person anymore, May-"

"Yes you are!" he slowly looked at her, seeing nothing but seriousness in her eyes. "You _are_ that person, Ash, because you can't change in my eyes! No matter what you do, or what you think, you will always be my best friend! You will always be the one I fell in love with!"

"May..." the trainer found his voice caught in his throat, noticing a small amount of moisture starting to gather in the corner of her eye. But she didn't seem bothered by it.

"I don't care what you're thinking..." her fists began trembling at her sides, giving a sniffle of her nose as moisture started forming in her other eye as well. "I...I don't hate you, Ash...and I never will, no matter what...I may not know what you're planning with Jack, but it's not going to help! Not for either of you! All it's going to do is cause pain and suffering between you two, as well as each of us!"

"Us...?" a sense of curiosity started to form in his eyes, but the emotional girl barely noticed.

"And what about Lexi? Do you have any idea how much she's going through because of you? What happened to wanting to help her?!" the man's expression softened slightly, staring at her in blank disbelief. "She told me that you took her in because you wanted to _help_ her! To give her a place where she belonged and felt _wanted_! So how can you decide that when you _know_ you won't tell her the truth?!" the trainer said nothing, the brunette feeling herself become more agitated.

"What...do you mean by all of this?" he asked cautiously, a glimmer casting over the girl's eyes as they began to well up even more. She wanted for him to understand, but she felt her emotions starting to get the better of her. She quickly wiped a tear from the corner of her eye, taking a quick and shallow breath.

"...Whatever you're thinking, it won't make things better. I may not know exactly what it is...But I can say for sure that it won't help anyone," the man's eyes narrowed on her slightly, watching her wipe another tear from her eye. "I know you're thinking of how to help the world in a better way - a way to make yourself useful to everyone, but Ash, you've already done that! You've made all of our lives - your _friends_ ' lives so much better! _My_ life!"

"...Spare the pleasant words," his words caused May's heart to feel pinched in her chest. He turned his body away from her slightly, his head down with his cold eyes staring blankly at the floor tile to his side. "...I know that what I'm thinking won't make things better. I never will. And that's because I'm no hero, or legendary trainer like some people have once said...All I do is bring tragedy and pain wherever I go."

"What are you talking about-?" the man held up his palm, effectively cutting the girl's voice short.

"How many times have I saved the world? How many times have I been right in the middle of a grand disaster that threatened life as we know it? Think about it, May, I have met nearly _every_ legendary pokemon there is! I have nearly faced death countless times, and even _come back_ from it a small handful! I was not just some ordinary kid who luckily wandered into those things, I was the _harbinger_ , May! The very thing that lured them in and caused the disaster in the first place!"

"Ash, no-"

"Stop pretending nothing's changed!" the brunette flinched at the sudden raise in his frustrated tone. He breathed a little heavier, slowly turning back to face her which brought May to even more tears. Not because of his anger, or his cold demeanor; it was because of the small trace of warm auburn that was struggling to fight its way back into his eyes as they stared into hers. "How can you still tell me that I'm good? That I...shouldn't just be left alone?"

"Be...because...you're not..." May felt her lower lip starting to quiver, the lower half of her eyesight starting to become watery. The trainer gave a heavy blink, his eyes drifting down from hers to something that had stirred up a mixed feeling within him. The sky-blue bracelet that rested around her wrist. He thought it better not to mention it, not just for May's sake, but for his own as well.

"I'm sorry, May...but the pain that I bring to those around me...You should know that more than anyone," the brunette felt her voice get caught in her throat, her mouth open as she reached out for the man walking away from her. She desperately tried to call out to him, but nothing came out. Her fist clenched in the air, the bracelet around her wrist starting to tremble with her skin.

"Then why were you here?!" the man stopped. If May didn't know better, she would have thought that Dialga had frozen time to try and help her, but she saw his hands at his sides begin to shift a little. Without his head turning around, she wiped away a few more tears from her eyes before giving him a serious look. "...If you say that all you do is hurt those around you...then why are you here? Why come to this hospital at all?"

"...It's strange..." her brow furrowed a little as she noticed his head turn, his eyes looking at the wall beside him. "...but I've been wondering that myself."

"...What...?" the brunette stared at him in disbelief, but the trainer merely looked ahead down the hall again.

"Since a few days ago, I had this...feeling. As if something were...trying to draw me here..." he trailed off, taking another step. "...but I suppose it was my mistake."

"W-Wait, Ash! _Please_!" the brunette took a step before feeling her body freeze up. Her brain told her- _begged_ her body to go after him. But she couldn't: all she could do was feel her tears start to flow once more as she finally witnessed the scene that had devastated her years ago. But this was even worse...because this was the second time. "P...Please...don't...go..."

As the man turned the corner, he heard a quiet sobbing start behind him. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath before focusing ahead of him. A part of his brain accepted that he was out of sight from anyone, bothering him as he looked into the corner of his visual. He wiped his finger across the corner of his eye, holding the finger ahead of him as he continued walking. But he couldn't get his attention off the small droplet of substance that hung from the underside of his fingertip. He exhaled and took another deep breath, wiping the droplet on his vest and returned his focus to finding the exit before something else came to his mind. Something that May had said to him...but didn't make any sense to him.

 _"Who...is Jack...or Lexi...?"_

Then he noticed quick footsteps coming up behind him.

* * *

 _Present_

"Incineroar, help Machamp out!"

"Tangrowth, cover them!" the alpha pokemon grunted angrily, its eyes focusing on the wrestler-like figure helping out the weakened four-armed humanoid, but the two extended and green-glowing arms of the plant monster swung through the air wildly and kept the god at bay. It reared its head back, a patch of flames starting to burn above its forehead.

"Hydro Pump!" as the divine being fired the stream of flames at them, a graceful swan stopped in the air between them and release a powerful jet of water, colliding with the flames and releasing a cloud of steam over them. Arceus narrowed its eyes on the steam before it felt an explosion on its side, looking over angrily to see the ruler of the Distortion World screech at it before releasing another ball of blue flames at it. The god's golden arch around its body shifted to a shade of orange, the ball of flames dissipating into thin air before the god's arch returned to its normal color.

"Hey, Leader, I've got an idea! Have Zekrom circle around it!" Leader cast a curious look to Jack beside him, then gave a subsequent nod.

"Zekrom, circle- _Ngggh_!" Jack's attention broke from the alpha, hearing something hit the ground nearby. He looked over, noticing Leader no longer standing beside him, but now on his knees with his hands gripping his head.

"L-Leader?!" the man didn't respond, clenching his teeth harder as a sharp and painful sensation cut through his mind. It felt as if there were a fire inside his head and it was burning his skull. "Hey, what's wrong? Talk to me!" Leader tried to open his mouth to respond, but quickly clenched his teeth again as the pain repeated. He lowered his head towards the ground, closing his eyes as he grunted in frustration from the odd feeling.

* * *

 _"Ngh!" the man grunted, stumbling a step away as his hand moved to his cheek. The burning sensation in his cheek began to grow more intense by the second, his eyes looking questioningly at the brunette girl in front of him, her hand drawn across the air beside her head as she stared at him with tears in her eyes._

 _"Is this_ really _what Jack wants too?! I know you two are supposed to be partners, but can you really say that you're not lying to each_ other _as well?!"_

* * *

Leader's eyes shot open. He raised his head, an odd look on his face before he looked around at his surroundings. He was still in the battle against Arceus...So what was that? A...memory? No, he had never been with May in a hospital. But why then...did it feel so familiar...so _real_...?

"Hey, Leader!" the man felt hands on his shoulders, seeing Jack crouched in front of him with a serious look on his face. "Hey, are you alright? What was that about?"

"I..." his eyes slowly drifted away from Jack, looking over to the enraged god in aerial combat with Articuno and Zekrom.

"Come on, man, now's not the time for you to be spacing out," Jack told him with a chuckle, standing up again and returning his focus to the battle. Leader let one hand fall back to his side while the other remained on the side of his head, a blank look on his face as he tried to figure out what just happened to him. What was that pain just now...and what almost seemed like a distant memory...?

"Jack," the man in question glanced back over to his friend, noticing him return to his feet as well with his eyes closed, before opening them again and giving him a serious look. "...What is it you truly want right now?"

"What? How is that more important than-"

"It _is_ , Jack, so answer me," Jack blinked, a surprised look in his eyes as Leader put his hands on his shoulders and faced him directly. "After everything that's happened...All of our fighting, and...and Krystal's..." the man seemed to hesitate, unable to finish the painful words as he shook his head slightly. "...is the basis of our agreement _truly_ what you still fight for?"

"Leader..." the shorter-haired man didn't seem to answer, hearing an explosion from colliding attacks in the sky above them. He opened his mouth to answer but then moved his hand to the side of his head, a sudden headache starting to come over him. He grit his teeth, wincing as he closed his eyes while the headache began to grow more intense. Then almost in an instant, it faded away. He slowly opened his eyes with caution, noticing his friend had begun to look concerned as well, making him chuckle.

"What...?" Jack didn't answer him, but instead only made him more curious with what he saw. Jack's hand pulled out from the inside of his jacket, holding a notebook. But before Leader could ask what Jack was thinking, he felt it pushed lightly against his chest. "Wait...Jack...?"

"What I've wanted...? Come on, old friend...You should've figured that out a long time ago already," he chuckled, leaving the notebook in Leader's hand as he turned away from him. Leader watched him intently, confused by a number of things that were happening as Jack started walking away from him. But not just that: he was heading towards a certain divine being, who received an explosion on its side from its own children sending it crashing to the ground. The alpha lifted its body from the rubble and hovered upward into the air again, then noticed the single human man walking towards it. Jack noticed it turn its attention on him, swallowing his breath before closing his eyes with a smirk. He glanced to his shoulder, thinking of the man behind him.

Leader. Mason. Webb. Trevor. Gina. Krystal. His mind lingered on the icy-blunette a little longer, feeling a pain in his chest as he clenched his teeth at the thought of the girl. Then finally, one last thought came across the man's mind. And when it did, he oddly felt a small smile creep across his lips.

Lexi...Ah, hell. Maybe they were right, after all.

"AAARRCEEEEEUUUUUUUUUUSSSS!" every head on Spear Pillar turned immediately towards the source of the deeply agitated screaming, each human eye going wide in shock at the sight. Jack had broken into a sprint towards the god, every ounce of anger within him pouring out from his lungs.

"Jack, _STOP_!" Leader's bellow was heard by everyone, but unfortunately...wasn't enough to change what followed. The god's reared-back head was thrust downward, a concentration of powerful energy bursting from its forehead. Despite Dialga's presence, time seemed to slow down until it almost came to a complete halt. Leader felt his heart start beating faster and faster as he watched the energy slowly make its way towards his friend, before his eyes drifted over to notice Articuno wrap its wings and tail around Gina and incineroar protectively, Registeel also forming a barrier around Mason, Webb and Trevor while each of the other larger pokemon protected themselves and the smaller ones took cover. Leader opened his mouth to shout again before a familiar dragon's face appeared out of a portal on the ground in front of him. Its black shadowy wings wrapped around him protectively as the three lake guardians appeared as well, forming a barrier around him as his voice finally escaped his throat, echoing across the mountaintop in the final moment of silence. "JAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!"

Then the explosion occurred. Leader immediately felt the powerful gust of air as a result from the god's Hyper Beam, blasting around Giratina's sides and nearly knocking him back despite the lake guardians' barrier. The impact was _that_ powerful: especially at such a short range. The man noticed dust and debris soar through the air past Giratina's head with the wind, clouding the air as Leader looked over to his friends with shocked concern. His visibility of them began to get hazy, but he could still barely make them out in the dust cloud holding their ground, as well as each of the pokemon around them. It was a few minutes before the dust seemed to finally settle: almost seeming like an eternity to Leader, whose body had gone almost entirely numb as he felt his heart beating against his chest faster than ever. He had only one thing on his mind.

He put his open palm and fist holding Jack's notebook against the inside of the psychic barrier, looking to the lake guardians with an expression that neither he nor they would ever expect. Desperation. They shared a worried glance before lowering the barrier, watching the man rush around Giratina's side. But even with how desperate he was...The lake guardians knew that he wouldn't be satisfied with what he found.

"Jack! Jack!" Leader's shouts reached the ears of his other friends, each sharing a concerned look while the man finally saw Arceus come into his view again. It was still hovering where it was, not having moved an inch as its head still looked at the ground in front of it. " _Jack_ -!" his voice cut short. His hearing began to fade. His heart rate nearly came to a stop: it was as if he had lost all sense of reality. All because of what he noticed next, with horrified eyes that - no matter how painful it was - refused to look away.

Where Jack once stood...was now a massive, deep crater. And the outer edges were still burning from the intensity of the god's devastating attack.

Leader fell weakly to his knees, struggling to draw a breath. This...couldn't be happening...It couldn't be. No way. This...this was just a dream...Yeah, one of the lake guardians must have put him to sleep during the battle, and this was all a dream. Or even a hallucination. Maybe...Maybe even _he_ was the one...who...was...

Leader's eyes slowly looked down to his side, noticing the notebook had slipped from his grip and fallen to the ground beside him. Looking at it brought an image to his mind: the grinning face of his friend. His comrade. His brother. He slowly reached for the book, lifting it and staring at the blank cover with still-shocked eyes, his thumb resting over the lower right corner. His hand hesitated as he noticed it starting to tremble, then the notebook fell from his grip again. But this time, the cover fell to the side with a few pages following it, letting it fall open onto a page with writing. For the first time, Leader read a passage of Jack's notebook.

 _get a compliment from Krystal_  
 _get any emotional response from Gina (anything at all)_  
 _X help Lexi and Trevor battle in sync together_  
 _teach Krystal how to resolve conflict without violence_  
 _X help nudge Krystal's obsessive crush on Leader a little_  
 _compliment Pinky without turning it into a joke_  
 _tell everyone the truth_

The man stared at the words with a blank expression, unsure of what to think. His eyes drifted to the very bottom of the page, noticing one single line of words on its own. Then he flipped to the previous page: it was at the very bottom there, too. And the previous page. And the one before that. Soon Leader was flipping from page to page desperately, his eyes frozen wide in shock at what he was reading over and over again on every single page. Flipping ahead again to where he started, he began looking at the proceeding pages that followed, but there were only a few that followed with text. And on every page, the single passage at the bottom was the same. Except for the very last page that was filled in: the only difference being the single letter - or marking symbol - at the start of the line.

 _X Feel like I belong_

Leader felt the sharp pain in his chest starting to get worse, his hands absentmindedly flipping through the blank pages towards the end of the notebook. When he reached the end of the book, his hands still gestured as if there were more to follow since his eyes couldn't focus on what he was doing. His mind was too overwhelmed to do anything. He couldn't speak: he could barely think. But then, he blinked when his mind finally registered something. Something in the bottom of his eye. Looking down towards the bottom of the final page of the notebook, he noticed a small passage of writing. Though it seemed oddly faded compared to the rest of what Jack had wrote. And reading it over, as much as it didn't make any sense of how faded it was...it also did.

 _Leader, Jack needs your help more than any of us._  
 _\- Lexi_

The man was snapped from his distraught trance. His senses slowly began to return to him, hearing an explosion nearby and figuring the battle must have resumed after the others noticed what had happened to their friend. He stared at the single passage on the page, his eyes narrowing curiously as he read it over and over. He knew for a fact that Jack had never let anyone see his notebook or what was inside: especially since he himself hadn't ever seen it. So there could only be one explanation for why Lexi's name was signed in it.

Leader rose to his feet, his hand gripping the notebook tightly as he turned his head towards the other being on the mountaintop, who was currently standing nearby with its attention on him. He looked at the dragon curiously, giving it a nod. Then the dragon nodded back, its eyes suddenly flashing a light hue of blue as a similar shade shone over the armor covering its body, a blue circle of light appearing on the ground around Leader. The man looked down at the notebook in his hand, seeing his other fist starting to tremble at his side before he closed his eyes. Then taking a deep breath, he pushed out all emotion from his mind. All the pain. All the anger. All the sadness. All the regret. Because with what was going through his mind...he could no longer afford any distractions.

And so, with a roar from Dialga, the man disappeared as he was sent through time.

But beyond the man's or dragon's expectations, a certain pair of red eyes immediately looked towards the deity of time. The alpha gave an angry shout as it released a Hyper Beam towards the unsuspecting dragon, exploding on its side and making it give out a cry as it suddenly fell to the ground. The glow on its armor began to flicker, the dragon giving a low grumble as it tried to lift its head. But then another explosion on its back made it roar out in pain, its cheek hitting the ground as its head fell, the glow beginning to disappear entirely.

* * *

 _Past_

Leader remained perfectly still, his fists clenched at his sides while the notebook now rested in the inside pocket of his vest. The almost space-like environment all around him rippled with green and blue pulsing streams of light, a serious look on his face as he ignored the miraculous passage of time around him as he focused on what was in his mind.

Then, in an instant, the light flashed white and blinded him, forcing him to close his eyes. He felt himself suddenly drop from the feeling of being in the air, his feet hitting the ground before quickly rolling onto their sides. He blinked as a perplexed expression came over his face, then the rest of his body followed a new momentum as he fell onto his side. And then his other side. And then back over again.

After a few more times of this repetitive process, he felt his cheek land on something soft as he finally came to a stop. Groaning quietly to himself, he lifted himself up and opened his eyes again, trying to take in his new surroundings. He first noticed that he was on grass, and looking back in the direction that he had come from, he noticed a small but slightly steep hill with several flattened impressions on the grass. Guess that explained the fall. He turned his head around and noticed a few trees scattered about, as well as a few park benches in the distance before his eyes finally noticed something larger. He carefully got onto his feet, his eyes not leaving the distant object. It was a building, but not just any building. It was one he knew. A _very_ specific hospital. And if Dialga knew what he was thinking, then he knew they would not have met by this point. The man started his way towards the hospital with a serious look on his face before he suddenly stopped, pausing for a moment. Then he unclipped a purple sphere from his belt, gripping it tightly.

Before he went looking for information...he needed to take care of something first.

* * *

"I'm afraid this is all we can give you, sir. If you had family present, we might be able to get the doctor to tell you more, but with him..." Leader noticed the nurse's voice trail off as she watched him intently scan the clipboard she gave him, reading over every trace of information he could. It was your typical hospital's health form: regarding one Jack Ketchum. The nurse watched awkwardly as the man's eyes reached the bottom, then started again from the top, then repeated a third time. She wanted to say something, but he seemed pretty intimidating, not to mention how out of the blue this request was...

"Excuse me," she nearly flinched at his voice, noticing his eyes look towards her. "You spoke as if his family is difficult or impossible to reach, but it says that he was first brought in by his father."

"Y-Yes, that is true...however..." the man lowered the clipboard slightly, staring at her expectantly. The nurse glanced around the empty waiting room before giving a quiet sigh. "...You didn't hear this from me, but...one day, his father just up and left. Never came back again. The poor boy was left all alone, me and some of the other nurses wondered how a man could be so cruel to their own child, as if he were...were just leaving him for dead."

"Is that so...?" Leader's eyes looked back down to the clipboard for a few quiet moments, then he set it on the counter again. "In five minutes, could you come out and call me inside from the park bench?" the nurse gave a confused look as he turned away towards the exit, leaving the building without another word. His fists clenched tighter at his sides as he made his way along the gravel path towards the nearby park. The nurse had told him the time and day of where Dialga had sent him, so he knew exactly where he was going now. To the point where he knew he would find both of them.

"Uh...Mind if I ask what you were doing up there?"

"...uh...Would you believe taking a nap?"

Leader moved behind a tree at the familiar voices, taking a deep breath as he cautiously peered around the side of the bark. A short - but also safe - distance away, he noticed a very familiar-looking man sitting on a park bench with an electric mouse beside him, a confused look on his face as he stared at a man on the ground beneath the nearby tree. Just where he knew they would be: the first moment they met. Leader caught himself staring at the embarrassed man as he rose to his feet, continuing into a conversation with his past self. The sight of Jack made him feel the sharp pain in his chest again, the image of Arceus' Hyper Beam approaching him flashing across his mind. He shook his head of the thoughts, attempting to regain focus on his goal as he watched the two go into discussion. As he watched them, Leader couldn't help but find himself feeling reminiscent: these were one of the last simpler times from either of their lives, before they made their agreement.

He cast a glance over his shoulder occasionally, looking for someone in particular until they finally came into view. Coming down the path was the same nurse from behind the hospital counter. Leader moved himself around the tree a little more to avoid her notice, which worked as she didn't see him, but instead saw his past self on the bench with Jack. Leader watched as she moved closer to them and began talking to them, a confused look on both of their faces before his past self stood up, Pikachu hopping onto his shoulder before he and the nurse made their way back towards the hospital. Leader breathed a quiet sigh of relief, his eyes looking back to the park bench.

"Wonder what that was about...?" Jack asked himself, arms crossed behind his head as he leaned back on the park bench. He looked up at the clouds in the sky above him, a small smile making its way across his lips as he breathed in the fresh air.

"Hey."

"Hm?" glancing downward, he noticed a familiar man standing in front of him, arms crossed. "Oh, hey. That was quick, must not have been serious-" the man cut his voice short, a puzzled look coming across his face as he noticed the man's demeanor. Compared to how friendly he was a few moments ago, he now seemed...serious. Much more serious. Not to mention intimidating. "...Are...you okay, man? And where's your pikachu?"

"Answer me something, right now," Jack nearly flinched at the cold and serious tone of his voice, which was a _lot_ different than how he was just talking earlier.

"Uh...Sure, man. What's up?" he asked cautiously, noticing Leader uncross his arms so his fists rested at his sides.

"What is it you truly want right now?"

"...Huh?" Jack blinked, surprised. He looked at the man curiously, but the seriousness on Leader's face didn't budge in the slightest. "...Ah...How do you mean-?"

"I mean exactly what I said. What is it you want, right now?" Jack tensed up nervously as the man took a step towards him. He straightened himself up on the bench, scratching the back of his head.

"Well...I just told you about how trainers abuse pokemon and treat them as means of gaining social status, so...obviously I want to put a stop to that, eventually-"

"Do you want that more than anything? Right now?"

"Anything? I...I probably wouldn't say more than 'anything', at least, but it's pretty high up there-"

"Don't give me 'high up there', I want right _now_. What is the thing you want more than anything else at _this_ moment?"

"...Man, getting to the hard stuff right away, huh...?" Jack chuckled, scratching his cheek as he looked down at the grass between his feet. Leader stared at him for an answer, keeping up his intimidating appearance as the man on the bench gave a quiet sigh to himself, then tilted his head back and looked up into the sky. "...I know it sounds stupid, but...more than anything..."

"Yes?" Leader urged him on, Jack closing his eyes with a small smile.

"...A family. And a place where I feel like I belong," Leader remained quiet, staring at him intently. But Jack didn't say anything more. After about a minute of silence, Leader closed his eyes and slowly released his bated breath before taking in another, looking at Jack once more.

"Then what about your father?" Jack's eyes opened, his head raising up again as he looked at him curiously. He wasn't sure what to say to that: he wasn't even expecting it. He had only just met this 'Leader' guy, so...why would he suddenly ask - or even _know_ \- about his father?

"I...I'm not sure I know what you mean," Jack said cautiously, Leader looking away from him into the distance at nothing in particular.

"You say you want a family. So what if he were to come back, right now?" Jack blinked, his brow furrowed as he watched Leader turn to look back at him. "Would you accept him? Would you try to find your feeling of belonging with him?"

"...Honestly?" Jack rested his elbows on his knees and interlocked his fingers in the air between them, cracking a small smile as he looked down at his fingers. "...If I saw him right now...I'd probably deck him. A few times. A man who abandons his kid at a hospital...it makes me sick to even consider, just as much as an abusive trainer does."

"...Then forget trying to belong for now, and just focus on getting better in that hospital," Jack blinked, watching with a perplexed expression as Leader's hands suddenly reached towards him. He felt the man open his vest slightly before he pulled out a notebook from his inner pocket, the man too stunned to do anything in return as Leader gripped it tightly. He turned away from Jack and started walking. It was only a few steps though before he stopped, looking back over his shoulder. "And no matter what you're thinking right now, since your first impressions from that battle earlier...I'm no good guy. Nothing good will come from knowing me, or being near me. If you don't believe me...when I come back, ask me about May and why I did it."

"May?" Jack asked, confused at his words. But Leader didn't say anything more, only continuing away from him and making his way back towards the hospital. The man on the bench looked at the bench beside him, as if wondering whether or not he had really just met that man with how strange he was acting, not noticing that the man who had walked away from him disappeared quickly around the corner of the hospital instead of going inside. He paused for a moment, hesitating to cast a glance over his shoulder but shook the thought from his mind. He couldn't waste time now...there was more he needed to do.

As Jack contemplated what he had said, barely a few minutes passed before true to his word, Leader came walking back towards him from the direction of the hospital. "That was weird, she didn't even have a reason..." the man shrugged off his confusion, noticing Jack on the same bench. Pikachu hopped from his shoulder as he sat beside him. "Sorry about that, Jack. I think someone just pranked me, for some reason."

"Huh..." Leader glanced over curiously at his simple response, noticing a slightly vacant look in his eyes.

"Hey, you alright?" he asked, giving a curious look. Jack's eyes directed towards Leader, recalling the warning as well as his final words. He hesitated for a few moments.

"...About this 'May' girl...Why would you do that?" silence. Then more silence. Jack glanced over curiously, looking at the man's eyes and noticing that they seemed...blank. Even more so than before.

"...What...did you just say?"

"...I asked about May, and why you-" Jack's voice was suddenly cut short, feeling his collar tugged away from his neck as he was suddenly hoisted off the bench. Jack's eyes widened slightly as his eyes stared directly into Leader's in front of him, which were no longer blank. They were dark, and angry. He opened his mouth to finish his thought, but felt the man's grip on his collar tighten, causing it to burn deeper into the back of his neck as he lost his breath.

"How in the _hell_ do you know that name?!" Jack blinked, staring at the man surprised. This was not the tone from earlier: this was dark.

"L...Look, man, I'm just...doing what you told me to-" Jack choked out, then felt his collar tugged again.

"I did not tell you to do _anything_ , let alone mention that part of my past! Who the hell are you, really? Some stalker?" he demanded, but Jack weakly shook his head.

"N-No, man! I-I'm not!" he suddenly felt the grip on his collar loosen, his butt falling back onto the bench rather hard. He groaned, rubbing his throat as he looked up bewildered at Leader, who stared down at him with a dark expression on his face.

"I don't know what you know about me, but you would be wise to never try and lecture me on _my_ past again," he said coldly, Pikachu hopping onto his shoulder before he started walking away. And the further he walked, the more Jack stared in utter confusion at what had just happened.

* * *

"Do you really think that you will help...?" Dawn whispered into May's ear, the brunette's eyes looking curiously to the open notebook in Lexi's hands. The group was sitting in the hospital's empty cafeteria at a table.

"It probably won't," the blunette tensed up, not thinking Lexi had heard her as the blonde looked down at the open page of the notebook. And along the bottom, the small passage she had written, addressed to Leader. "...But...A part of me feels better writing this. And even if Jack sees it...he'll know that we know the truth. Maybe then, he can trust us...even a little..."

"Are you still doing okay, Lexi?" Misty asked, concerned for the blonde. Lexi gave an absentminded nod, but everyone knew that that wasn't a proper response. Obviously, the girl was still shaken by everything she had learned in this hospital: the truth of Jack's secrets. Why he cared so much about everyone. And yet...a part of her felt like something was still wrong. Since just before she wrote the message in Jack's notebook, she had a strange...sinking feeling in her chest. Like something was now missing.

"...If you guys don't mind...I think I'm gonna take a walk. I just...need to think a little," everyone exchanged worried glances as the blonde rose to her feet, taking Jack's notebook and carrying it at her side as she left the cafeteria.

"Should we go after her?" Max asked, his sister shaking her head.

"No, let her be for a bit. Remember that everything we just learned for the first time about Jack, she did too. So as strange or bad as this seems to us, it must be a hundred times worse for her," May's explanation left a hanging sense of worry in the air, everyone staring down at the table in front of them, each too worried for the girl to say anything else.

* * *

Lexi sighed quietly, looking up at the few clouds drifting slowly across the blue sky. Her grip on Jack's notebook tightened, a slight tinge in her chest as her free fist moved over it.

She couldn't believe Jack would never confide in them about any of this. _Any_ of it. One of the most personal things they could get out of him voluntarily was the fact that he and Leader were nephew and uncle, and even _that_ was a lie! Was anything else about him the truth?! Did he really want to write a novel? Did he and Leader not have other secret arrangements between the two of them? Did he even _like_ any of the girls that he flirted with, or was it really just a courtesy?! Not to mention her, and the others...did he _ever_ consider them a real family?

Lexi shook her head, freeing her mind from that last thought. No way, that one _had_ to be true. It had to be. Jack was way too kind to everyone to be lying about that: sure, he joked around a lot - maybe too much - and got hit around by Krystal quite a bit, but that was normal. All families have siblings who fight a lot, so that had to be it! ...Right?

The blonde sighed quietly again, rubbing between her eyes as she stepped through the front entrance of the hospital. Starting her way down the corridor that led to the hospital rooms, she couldn't help but continue pondering about Jack's actions. Not to mention Leader's. Did he know about Jack's health? If so, how could he never say anything? He should have been just as worried about Jack as she is right now, so why had he never even shown the slightest sign of concern for his own _brother_?

Flipping open the notebook in her hand, she skipped over the majority of the pages until she reached the final page. Her eyes immediately landed on the short passage that she had left for Leader, despite the very low probability of him seeing it, frowning before something else caught her eye. Something that stopped her in her tracks in the middle of the hallway. Her eyes narrowed curiously as they drifted slightly upward from her own passage, noticing more writing just above it. It wasn't there before, but it appeared much more faded than her own. And it was signed by a different name.

 _All of you can still make a good life for yourselves. Even without me._  
 _\- Leader_

Then the blonde suddenly dropped to her knees, clenching her teeth as the notebook fell from her grip. Her palms moved to the sides of her head, a searing pain burning inside her mind.

* * *

 _"Who are you, exactly? You don't strike me as a criminal, so...what reason would you have for following someone...?"_

 _"...It's because you're the first-"_

* * *

Lexi's eyes slowly fluttered open, breathing heavily as she felt the pain starting to subside. But then it returned with a vengeance, forcing a pained squeal to escape through her teeth.

* * *

 _"You're...that girl from the TV show..."_

 _"I...I saw you...at the-"_

* * *

Her eyes opened again with caution, her breathing even heavier now as her forehead rested on the floor tile. _"What...is happening...?"_ she thought, confused at the odd pain she was experiencing. These voices...the sound of crackling static was starting to drown them out, but she could swear...they were Leader's, and her own. But...what were they saying...? And most confusing above all else, why...could she feel herself starting to cry?

* * *

"W-Whoa! Hey, let go of him! What the hell do you think you're doing?!"

"What I have to! Even if you don't understand!" the green-haired man grunted as he collided into the ground rather hard, a soreness quickly developing in his cheek. He looked up questioningly at the man who had dropped him, the man's fist still clenched from having made contact with his face. He glanced over to his orange-haired friend, who seemed just as enraged about what was going on as he was.

"Listen, you better explain yourself or get the hell out of here!" the orange-haired man shouted, his fists starting to shake in anger.

"Gladly," the stranger turned away from them, starting back towards the office door before stopping in the doorway, looking back over his shoulder. The two men bared their teeth in frustration, neither one believing how cold and void of life the man's eyes were as they stared back at them. "And if either one of you ever see me again, know that I will not be so merciful the next time."

"You should be in a mental ward, you psychopath!" the man smirked to himself, keeping his head low as he closed the office door behind him and made his way through the office building. He could feel the surprised and confused stares from other employees as he walked, but he didn't pay any attention to them. He didn't care what they thought. It only mattered what those two men in particular thought of them, and now...they should be more enraged and hateful towards him than anything.

 _"This needs to be done..."_ the man thought to himself, finally stepping out of the front entrance and looking up at the blue sky above him. He felt a pain in his chest at what he had just done...but it didn't matter. Nor did the pain he felt from seeing that same angry and defensive expression on the faces of the silver-haired and icy-blunette girl he visited before these men. It didn't matter that they hated him: he _needed_ them to hate him. "This...is for the better..." he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as one hand clutched the front of his shirt tightly. The pain was getting worse by the second, but he forced it out of his mind. He needs to do this...This will make everything right again. He looked down the street to his left, and then to his right. Taking another deep breath, the flicker of emotion in his eyes once again faded into nothing, leaving no trace of their former auburn warmth behind. "Okay...Next is Trevor."

* * *

"Milotic, Aqua Ring!" the graceful serpent called out in pain, a ring of water materializing in the air around it as its body began to glow. But several sharp stones flew towards it at a high speed, piercing its body and exploding into dust, prompting another cry of pain from the water-type as its head fell to the snowy ground. "Milotic!"

"How pathetic can you be?" the blue-haired man clenched his teeth, glaring at the man that stood on the snow across from him, the red and black land crocodile beside him knocking its fists together with a menacing look in its eyes. The man wore a hood, so he couldn't see his face, but he didn't need to. The blue-haired man being attacked without provocation told him all he needed to know about this guy.

"I swear to you, I will _never_ let you get Uxie!" he shouted, unclipping another sphere from his belt and tossing it into the air. A burst of light emerged from it as he recalled the water serpent with another sphere, its replacement taking form of a large blue mudfish on all fours, two fan-like black fins emerging from its head as well as a single larger one from its lower back. The hooded man smirked to himself, but the sight of the blue-haired man facing against him brought another sense of pain to his chest, unaware that a single tear escaped his eye and rolled down his cheek.

"I'm afraid I can't bother with you for long. I still have...one last visit after this..."

* * *

May rushed around the corner, bursting into a sprint down the hallway with a worried look of panic on her face. She still felt an aching in her heart from slapping Ash and saying something so mean, but she couldn't worry about that anymore: because not a moment after she had walked away from him, she heard a spine-chilling scream from somewhere in the hospital. And that's exactly where she was rushing to now, not because she knew who it was or why it happened, but because she got a very ominous feeling from it.

Hurrying around another corner, she froze as her eyes widened at what she found. A few nurses were rushing towards a single figure on the ground, her body curled up in a fetal position as she clutched her head, screaming in agony as a notebook lie open on the ground beside her. The brunette shook her head and rushed towards her, a sinking feeling in her chest from having recognized the clothes on the figure on the ground.

"Lexi! Lexi, what's wrong?!" May asked in a panic, but the blonde only clutched her head tighter and continued to scream. The brunette looked to the nurse. "What happened to her?!"

"W-We don't know! We just found her like this a moment ago!" May looked back with concerned eyes to Lexi, whose voice began to grow coarse before it finally cut off, hearing her begin to gasp for air. May glanced up, noticing her friends coming from the opposite end of the hallway and rushing towards them.

"May, Lexi! What happened?!" Max asked, clearly freaked out by what he saw, but his sister only shook her head.

"I don't know, I just came running when I heard her start screaming like this," she told them, reaching her hand towards Lexi's shoulder. "Lexi, what's wrong? Tell us what's going on, please!"

"Ple...Please...don't..." May's heart sank in her chest at the coarse and weak tone of her voice, seeing her fingers trembling as they gripped her hair. Her eyelids were shut tightly, a pained expression on her face as tears freely rolled down her cheeks without end. "...Please...I don't want to...Don't make me...forget...!"

"Lexi, take a breath. What's hurting you right now?" Gary asked, crouching beside her and putting a hand on her shoulder. Her eyelids slowly fluttered open, her eyes clearly looking distraught as they looked at him curiously with a deep sadness.

"I...It's...Leader..." the researcher's brow furrowed, the girl's fingers slowly gripping her hair more tightly. "I...I can...feel them...leaving...I...I can't remember anymore...Don't take them...away from me...!"

"Take them? Take what, Lexi?" Dawn asked, an extremely concerned look on her face as she worried about her friend. Gary's eyes drifted from the blonde towards the notebook lying open beside her, noticing it was open on the page where Lexi had written her short passage. Then he noticed the newer one just above it.

"...Her memories..." the others looked to the researcher with puzzled looks, watching the man pick up the notebook and stare at the written text with shocked eyes. "...This writing...Ash must have gotten Dialga's help in the present, and gone back in time himself...!"

"But why? Why would Ash bother going to the past? What would he do?" Misty asked, Gary's eyes drifting back towards Lexi, whose pained expression returned to her face as she clutched her head tightly, her tears flowing onto the floor freely.

"To prevent any of this...And whatever he's doing..." everyone's eyes drifted to Lexi, watching her tremble as she struggled to bare the emotional pain within her mind. "Whatever he's changing...it's directly changing Lexi's memories!"

"But...But what do we do, then? We can't just leave her like this!" Dawn exclaimed, the researcher biting his tongue. He stared at the girl in pain, his mind racing to come up with something. Anything.

"...I...I don't know..." Dawn's expression softened, her eyes going wider as she felt a tear starting to form in the corner of her eye. May put her hand over Lexi's while Gary continued holding her shoulder, both having a troubled look on their faces as they hated being unable to do anything more to help the girl. But there was nothing they could do.

"This...this isn't right...! There must be something...!" Max's fists shook slightly at his side, his teeth clenched as he became more and more frustrated for standing by and doing nothing. But watching his sister shake her head slowly, he closed his eyes and lowered his head, struggling to bare the sound of Lexi holding back her pained cries.

The blonde clenched her eyes shut, trying desperately to focus her mind on Leader. She could still see his face: though the more she tried to picture it, the hazier it started to become. She could still recall laughing and having fun with him, and Jack, and Krystal, Gina, Trevor, Mason and Webb. She couldn't let herself forget it! All the good times...all the fun memories of her friends...of the family she became a part of...the ones she loved...!

* * *

 _"Huh...?" the blonde blinked in confusion, becoming concerned as the man wrapped his arms around her. Glancing questioningly to her shoulder, she could only see the corner of his jaw as his cheek rested against the side of her head. She could feel his palm beginning to tremble on the back of her head, as well as the middle of her back as he held her closely. Who was this shady-looking guy? She had never met him before, but he was hugging her out of the blue. So why...?_

 _Then to her further surprise, she heard something quiet close to her ear. Then again. It was sobbing...almost like he was...crying. But why would this guy hug her and cry about it?_

 _Then he slowly pulled away from her, the blonde giving a questioning look as she remained on her guard. She saw his face come into view once more, noticing a tear run down one of his cheeks before another did the same on the opposite cheek, the man struggling to take a deep breath._

 _"I...know you don't understand this...and you never will..." her brow furrowed, staring in confusion at the man as an auburn warmth started to flow into his cold eyes. "...but you don't need to...because what matters now is that you'll be okay._ All _of you will be okay."_

 _"I'm...sorry, sir, but I don't know what you mean-" she stopped as the man briefly shook his head, a weak smile creeping across his lips._

 _"Yeah, I know...but you'll get through anything just fine, as long as you have the right motivation," his words only confused her further._

 _"Motivation...?" she asked carefully, not knowing how to respond to this. She watched him give a slight nod._

 _"Right. And don't think that you're alone...because you already have others who understand...and care about you," the girl started to feel uneasy. Why was he telling her all of this when they had never met...?_

 _"I-I'm sorry, but I really don't understand this 'motivation' you're talking about..." she said hesitantly, but the man's hands on her shoulders tightened a little. With a quick glance to each side, she noticed that his fingers began trembling slightly._

 _"You will...as long as you remember the name Jack. As long as you do that, you can be happy."_

* * *

May's brow furrowed as she felt the girl's fingers stop shaking beneath hers. She curiously looked to Lexi's face, and noticed that the tears in her eyes stopped forming, but the dried streams down her cheeks would take a little longer to dry. The blonde slowly sat herself up, May and Gary exchanging a worried glance as she wiped away the moisture from each side of her face, then slowly opened her eyes. For a few moments she stared blankly at the floor tile in front of her, then she slowly looked over towards Gary, and then to May.

"Lexi...? Are you okay...?" the brunette asked carefully, the blonde opening her palms and holding them in front of her as she stared down at them.

"...Yeah...I'm okay," the brunette couldn't help but smile, releasing a breath of relief. Every other member of the group did the same as the blonde lifted herself to her feet, rubbing the side of her head softly as she looked down at the floor below her.

"Are you sure you're okay, Lexi?" Dawn asked, prompting a curious glance from Lexi.

"...I am, really," she replied calmly, her eyes starting to briefly drift across each person in the hallway around her. May put a hand on her shoulder, earning a curious glance as she flashed the blonde a smile.

"Well then, how about we go see Jack? I'm sure he should be awake by now," she told her, the blonde seeming to hesitate before giving a slow nod.

"Okay...but..." May blinked, her expression changing to one of curiosity and confusion as Lexi looked her in the eyes. And it was then that any of them noticed that something seemed different.

"That name is...familiar. Who is that, exactly?"

 **END**

 **I feel as though you can probably see these cliffhangers coming a mile away, so I won't hype them up or anything. But I will tell you that there will be answers in the next chapter. For everything.**

 **And what that means: this story, and series, is finally coming to its end. The next chapter will be the finale, and conclusion to everything, that's why a part of me had to go with this ending for this chapter. I realize the time-travel and past-altering things are not written the best (obviously can't write sci-fi/science-fiction as much as I am a fan), but it's really surprising enough that I was able to finish this story. The reason for that will be explained in my notes at the end of the next chapter, as well as the struggles I encountered through these four stories since first starting _Blast From The Past_. **


	10. Chapter 10

**For A Future Not His Own**

 **CHAPTER 10**

 _Past_

The man breathed a quiet sigh to himself, frowning as he stared out the window to the side of his room. He could hear the faint sound of small flying-types chirping in the nearby trees, but as usual, he could never see them from his bed. And every single day that passed in this room, he found it more and more difficult to deal with.

He was then surprised as he heard the sound of the door opening, his eyes drifting over to see the nurse that was likely to be coming in. But to his further surprise, it wasn't a nurse: it was simply a girl. Her blonde hair only reached to her shoulders, and the curious look in her eyes as she noticed him drove her feet to carry her further into the room. She stopped a few feet from the bed, her eyes not leaving his as one other girl followed in behind her. A brunette. Her sapphire-blue eyes shone as she watched the blonde girl with a look of concern, her fist resting in front of her chest. The others of the group had decided to wait outside, not wanting to overwhelm the man with so many strangers in his room.

"Excuse me, but...Who are you, miss?" the man asked, the brunette feeling a pinch in her chest as she continued watching the other girl.

"I...I'm Lexi."

"Oh...Okay. Do I...know you, somehow?"

"I...I'm not sure..."

"Yes, you do," the pair looked to the brunette, who moved around Lexi and stood between them. A small smile formed on her lips as she gently took hold of both Lexi's and Jack's hand, the latter feeling a light blush creep across his face. The brunette flashed him a warm smile, then did the same to the blonde. "I know this is confusing...but even though you may not recognize each other, you two are the best of friends. Almost inseparable, really."

"We...are?" the man asked, blinking as he looked at the blonde girl, noticing she appeared just as curious as he was. The brunette gave a nod.

"That's right. And even though you don't remember...the two of you are actually family," she stated, Jack casting her a surprised look.

"W-What?" he looked back to Lexi, who appeared just as surprised before her eyes met his. Her hand creeped to her opposite arm and started fidgeting, appearing nervous as Jack merely stared at her in shock. "...We're...family...?"

"That's right," Lexi's eyes drifted away from Jack's, intending to give May a questioning look before they drifted downward a little. As well as beyond May entirely.

"Hey...What's that?" she asked, pointing past the brunette. May turned her head and Jack looked to his side, following the girl's point and noticing something on the nightstand that they were both familiar with. The notebook.

"A-Ah...That's...mine," the man replied bashfully, scratching his cheek as he glanced away. Lexi gave him a curious look, looking to May afterwards but the brunette only gave a small smile and slight nod towards the man in response.

"...Can I...see?" Jack blinked, slowly looking back towards the blonde girl in surprise. Lexi's face flushed as his eyes landed on her, starting to panic as she pinched her arm and looked away. "I-I mean, if...if you don't want me to, that's okay..."

"...Okay," the blonde glanced back shyly to the man, noticing his arm reach over and grab the notebook. Then it extended out towards her, the girl giving him a curious look, but he only smiled bashfully as he scratched his cheek with his free hand, giving a nod. She carefully took the notebook, looking over the simple cover before flipping it open. Then she flipped another page. And another. And another. And another. And another. She continued skimming through the next few pages a little quicker, until she finally paused.

"...It's empty..."

* * *

The man kept running. He had been running for so long now, he no longer knew how long it had been, or how much further it would be. But the image in his mind prevented his feet from stopping: the confused expression on her face before he ran away from her. How confused she was as he poured out his true feelings to the girl, but she had no idea what they meant. More faces started popping into his mind, each of the others with an angry or defensive expression as they stood across from him. He couldn't stand it anymore.

The man eventually heard the crashing of waves up ahead, his feet slowing down nearly to a stop. His final few steps were lazy and unsteady, before he finally fell onto his knees, his palms hitting the dirt at the peak of the cliff in front of him as his head fell low. Now they all hated him...Gina, Krystal, Mason, Webb, Trevor...and Lexi. Even Jack. None of them would trust him anymore, which means that they would now refuse his offer if he still ended up looking for him. They would never join him. He and Jack would never have to lie to them. They would never go to Spear Pillar. Gina would never get as hurt as she did. Webb's leg would be okay. Krystal wouldn't die. And neither would Jack...

"...Are you happy now?!" he reared back his head and shouted into the open sky as loud as he could. Even he didn't recognize his own voice right now: it sounded to be in so much pain. Like it was suffering. He felt a tear roll down his cheek before another followed, his teeth clenched tightly as his palm shifted into a fist in the dirt. "I did what I had to! So go on, then! I know you still want to judge me, so just _judge_ me already, Arceus! Or are you not satisfied with how much I've already suffered?!" he pounded his fist into the dirt, wincing as he ignored the pain in his knuckles. That was nothing compared to the pain in his heart right now. After so long ago, promising himself that he would keep it closed and never let anyone in again...it now ached more than he could ever remember. Any battle loss...any league loss...even leaving May. His teeth grit harder against each other, starting to hurt as his fists trembled on the dirt, before giving another swift punch to the ground. "How are you not happy?! How much more pain must I go through before you see me as destroyed?! I am at my wit's end, Arceus! And if you're not satisfied, then just show yourself! Tell me what I need to do before my judgement is done!" but all the man heard in response was the echo of his anger returning from across the open ocean below him. He dropped his forehead to the dirt, his eyes clenched shut tightly as a few more tears continued to roll down his cheeks. Why? How much did he have to suffer...?

 _ **"...Are**_ **you** _ **happy?"**_

The man's eyes opened, his head slowly raising as a few small specks of dirt fell from his hair. The man drew in a shaky breath at the sight of the red eyes staring ahead at him, the heavenly figure floating in the air a short distance from the cliff. "A...Arceus..."

 _ **"What you've done here today, human...You ask if it makes me happy. Do the results make**_ **you** _ **happy?"**_ the man stared blankly at the god, questioning its words in his mind. Then it came to him: he was in the past. The alpha wouldn't know of his time traveling, so it had no idea what he meant.

"...Of course I am..." Arceus' eyes narrowed on the human slightly, watching his head sulk forward a little as he stared down at his fists. He closed his eyes. "...Because of what I've done...they will never trust me...which means they will never get hurt because of me. They will be safe...and will survive...every one of them..."

 _ **"...Your tone and appearance makes me think otherwise, human,"**_ Leader's eyes opened again, looking down to the blurry lower portion of his vision. He wiped away the tears, taking a few deep breaths before he managed to regain his composure a little, but still felt that his emotions didn't disappear entirely. He raised his head, straightening himself up as he then rose to his feet, fists at his sides as he gave the alpha a serious look.

"I apologize, Arceus. But...I don't regret what I've done," the god's eyes narrowed on him more, the man feeling a weak smile creep onto his face as he struggled to maintain it. "And the others...truly will be better off without me. They can make better lives for themselves...every one of them."

 _ **"Are you certain...that applies for**_ **all** _ **of them?"**_ Leader blinked, taken aback by the god's question. He opened his mouth to respond, but paused. Thinking on it, his mouth slowly closed again: maybe Arceus was right...and he was wrong. Because thinking back on what he had done, there _was_ something missing. Something he was reminded of, thanks to a certain promise that lingered in his mind. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath, then opened them again, looking up at Arceus again with a determined look in his eyes.

"There's still one I haven't entirely made it up to. And there's only one last thing I can do to fulfill that promise."

* * *

"Truth is...I'm kinda trying to...write a novel..." the man said bashfully, scratching his cheek as he looked down at the bedsheets. Lexi wore a curious expression as she stared at him expectantly, embarrassing him further while May watched the pair with a faint smile. "Although...I can't quite find the right inspiration to help me write anything. It's kinda lame, really. Almost like...nothing motivates me..." he weakly smiled, chuckling to himself at how pathetic he sounded. These two girls must be on the verge of laughing right now. He curiously glanced over, expecting to see them holding back their mocking laughter, but was surprised to notice something else entirely.

First, he noticed the brunette staring at her friend with a look of concern and worry. Then as his eyes drifted over to the blonde girl, he realized why. Her facial expression almost seemed blank, like her mind wasn't there: but tears had begun flowing down her cheeks uncontrollably.

"W-Whoa! Are you okay? Wait, what's wrong? Did I say something? I'm sorry!" the man grew into a panic, unsure of what to do or say as the girl continued to cry while she stared at him blankly. Then she seemed to finally notice what was happening, her wrist lazily trying to wipe away the tears to no success as they continued to fall. "Are...you okay...?"

"I...I don't know..." the sad tone of her voice made the man feel a pinch in his chest. It sounded so...lonely...something he knew better than anything else. Then to his surprise, despite the tears not stopping, her lips curled into a weak smile. "But...I'm sure you'll find your inspiration eventually."

"...Why do you say that?" he asked, the blonde wiping away some more tears before her smile grew the slightest bit larger. But his brow furrowed when she shook her head.

"I'm not sure," he blinked, staring at the girl in confusion. She...what? "I...When you said that, I just...felt like I had heard it...from someone important, a long time ago..." the man stared at her in awe, eventually breaking into a smile of his own.

"Well, motivation is a pretty important thing, don't you think?" May watched as the man flashed Lexi a happy grin, to which the girl nodded with a happy smile. Then he extended his hand out towards her. "The name's Jack. It's nice to meet you."

"Same here...Jack," Lexi smiled, feeling something strange within her at those words. More specifically, his name. Jack...Now that she thought about it, that was the same name that strange man told her to never forget. Maybe that's why talking to him like this almost felt...nostalgic. May couldn't help but feel happy as the two shook hands, becoming friends once again right in front of her. Then the blonde turned to her. "Thank you, miss...May, right?"

"Right. Glad I could help," May couldn't help but smile more. Even if Lexi didn't remember her because of the change in her memories, she was fine with it. Because all that mattered was that despite not remembering each other, neither Lexi nor Jack were alone anymore. And hopefully that will remain true, from this point until the present.

"Oh!" the two girls looked to Jack curiously at his exclamation, confused as he reached under his pillow and pulled out something in his hand. He gave an embarrassed smile, scratching his cheek with his free hand while his other extended out towards Lexi. Her eyes looked curiously at his open palm, seeing...a white hairband? "Kinda embarrassing, but one of the nurses gave this to me saying that I would be cuter if I tried growing out my hair...but 'cute' isn't exactly my thing. So, sorry if it's kinda lame, but if it's not weird or anything...Would you maybe want it?" the blonde stared at the hairband, surprised. May looked back and forth curiously between the two, smiling at how embarrassed the man was becoming until the girl finally smiled again, holding up her index finger in the air.

"On one condition," the man gave her a puzzled look as she took the pen from the nightstand beside him, offering it to him with a gentle smile. "Would you sign your name on it?"

"H-Huh?" Jack didn't know what to say, but felt his cheeks grow warmer at the sight of the hopeful look in her eyes. He released his breath with an amused smile, taking the pen and signing his name along the side of the headband, appearing distinctly in black ink against the white headband. She took it back from him and looked it over, smiling to herself.

"There, now I can definitely treasure this," the sight of her smile and kindness of her words made Jack's face heat up even more, the man turning away from her and scratching his cheek bashfully as May watched the pair's interaction with a knowing smile. She recognized those looks from a long time ago: her fingers grazed over the sky-blue bracelet on her wrist, smiling as she recalled the memory of Ash giving it to her. Lexi and Jack wore the same expressions that she and Ash did, way back when...

Then the brunette blinked, a look of shock coming over her face as she noticed something. Her fingertips were starting to...glow. "What the...?" she looked to Jack, who seemed just as shocked as her, but he wasn't looking at her. Her eyes then drifted to Lexi, noticing the reason why he seemed surprised: her skin was starting to glow as well.

"Uh, May?" she looked to the doorway, noticing the rest of her friends coming in with a similar light blue radiance starting to spread across their bodies. Her little brother looked like he was about to start panicking as he stared at his skin, but Dawn put a hand on his shoulder to calm him as she and Brock gave a nod to May. The brunette looked at them curiously, realizing that they must know what this is, so she looked back to Lexi and Jack, who were looking at each other with concern in their eyes.

"What's going on...?" the man asked, but the blonde shook her head.

"I don't know...but we're friends, right?" the man gave a nod, making the girl break into a warm smile. "Then...After this, I'll come find you. Someday, with this," Jack watched in awe as the group of people - including his first ever friend - began to glow brighter in the room. Then he broke into a smile, giving a nod to Lexi.

"I may not understand...But I'll look forward to it, Lexi. I'll see you again," the blonde gave a nod, her smile growing bigger as the glowing suddenly grew too bright for the man to continue watching, having to shield his eyes. And then in an instant, it faded into nothing. Jack cautiously opened his eyes, blinking a few times and rubbing them, but what he saw didn't change. They were all gone.

* * *

"W-Wait, sir, you can't go in there-!" the doctors were startled as they heard the doors suddenly swing open, hitting the walls beside them as the medical professionals looked to see what was going on. Despite the nurse following closely behind, insisting that he stop, the man remained unfazed as he walked towards them before stopping a few feet away with a serious look on his face.

"Sir, I'm not sure who you are, but visitors can't be-"

"What exactly is causing Jack Ketchum's health problems?" the stern tone of voice nearly made the doctors flinch, exchanging a worried glance as the man didn't budge. "I don't care about your disclosures or any of that crap, just tell me what's going on with him. Now."

"...W...We can't say for sure, I'm afraid," the man didn't appear amused or content with that response, the doctors exchanging another worried glance. "He...He's likely being affected by some form of highly concentrated dormant anemia, or even a simple nutritional deficiency-"

"If it's simple, then why can't you treat it?" his sharp tone made the doctors flinch again, giving concerned looks for the intimidating man.

"W-We've tried, but...anything we've tried only seemed to delay the symptoms temporarily. And not for very long, at that. From what we were told by the one who first brought him here - his father - he was born one of two twins. We think that this deficiency first began affecting him sometime shortly after his birth, or even in the womb before he was born. It could just as likely be that his twin before birth was somehow getting more nutrients from their mother than he was, but we have no way of confirming anything. We don't even know the mother's name, who the boy's twin is or even where either of them are."

"It could have been his twin...?" Leader's eyes grew wide. It couldn't be...Was _he_ to blame for Jack's health? Were these doctors telling the truth, and _he_ was somehow the reason why Jack's health was so weak? _"It's...It's my fault...I'm the reason...he's..."_ the man closed his eyes, purging his mind of those thoughts. He briefly shook his head, opening his eyes again and looking directly at the doctor on the left. "Is there any surgery that could strengthen him and stabilize his health to normal? Anything at all?"

"W...We couldn't say, without any of the information that we just mentioned..." the doctor seemed to hesitate, making Leader grow more frustrated. His fists clenched at his sides, beginning to tremble. "Without more information from his family's line of health, we don't know what could potentially save him, or what could potentially make his health far worse..."

"...Then do whatever you can," the two doctors exchanged looks of confusion, then looked back to the man who was now holding his wrists out towards them.

"Um...I'm sorry, but...Not just anyone can donate blood to someone, you would have to be a match-"

"I don't care about being a match, because I'm the one person who can help him more than anyone," the doctors exchanged confused looks again, the seriousness on Leader's face not budging in the slightest. "And it's not just blood, either. I said do _whatever_ you can: that means blood, skin, even organs, I don't care what you need to take. I will give up anything and _everything_ , so long as you help him!"

"Um...Who...exactly are you...?" one doctor asked hesitantly, Leader closing his eyes with a deep breath.

"My name is Ash Ketchum, and Jack is my twin from birth. And I need you to save him, even if it costs my own life."

* * *

 _Present_

May opened her eyes again, blinking a few times before her sight re-adjusted to her surroundings. It only took a few moments before everyone recognized Spear Pillar, but felt their hearts sink in their chests at the sight of how destroyed it was compared to before.

" _Lexi_?!" the blonde's head turned around curiously in the direction where the voice had come from, not recognizing it. She saw a man with orange hair looking at her with a surprised expression, another man with green hair with an identical expression as his arm was slung around the first man with an apparent grave injury to his leg. Not far from them was a slightly shorter blue-haired man, who also appeared surprised to see her, as well as a silver-haired girl supported by an incineroar who was also just as shocked. "A...And the rest of you...! You're actually back!"

"Yeah, we are! We're not sure how much we've managed to change, but hopefully-" May's voice cut short, looking around in the immediate vicinity of the group. She noticed the pokemon in battle, as well as the dragon and salamander pokemon who appeared rather defensive nearby, but...no other humans. "Hey...Where are Jack? And your other friend, Krystal?" the three men and one woman's expressions became hard to read, almost appearing...hurt. Like they were suddenly in pain, on the verge of becoming emotional. May hurried towards them with a confused look as Gina merely pointed weakly towards the dragon and salamander, the brunette staring at them for a few moments before they shifted slightly, making May's eyes go wider. Her heart sank even further into her chest as she noticed the feminine body lying perfectly still on the rubble, protected by the pokemon, before she slowly looked to the others. They only gave a small nod. "...O...Oh, no...A-And Jack? Where's Jack? Did he go into the past with Ash?!" they exchanged sad glances, which May recognized much easier this time. She felt her knees grow shaky, almost collapsing. "N...No, it...i-it can't be...We just...We saw the changes, Lexi's...Lexi's memories changed, so something must have changed here...! Why isn't anything changing here?!"

"Maybe that has something to do with it..." May's eyes followed the direction where Trevor's finger was pointing, her eyes growing wider at what she saw. Towards the side of the ruins laid a large, blue dragon, a low rumbling emitting from its throat as its head laid on its side over the rubble, too weak to move. Several injuries were evident all across its body, indicating a powerful struggle, but even the deity of time was brought down by something. The brunette's teeth clenched together, her eyes darting to the four-legged divine being in the sky above them as it finally took notice of the newcomers on the mountain.

"Arceus! What happened here?! You were supposed to be summoned to _help_ everyone, not cause more harm! Why would you ever do this?!" she shouted, the alpha's pupils contracting on the lone girl.

 _ **"The two humans chose this fate for themselves. The ones you call Jack, and Leader,"**_ May felt as if her heart were being squeezed as she stared at the alpha in shock. They...chose this...But why? _How_?! _**"No matter what you tried to do in the past, that will not change my mind here and now! Everyone on the peak of this mountain will receive JUDGEMENT!"**_ the alpha's voice bellowed as it fired a pulse of energy from its forehead straight up into the air, the brunette watching in horror as it exploded, releasing several streams of energy down upon Spear Pillar. Her body couldn't move. She couldn't even find her voice. After everything she learned about Jack's tragic past...about Lexi losing her memories of her friends...of what happened here to Krystal, and even Jack...she didn't know what to do. There was nothing _to_ do. Their efforts in changing the past didn't manage to resolve anything. All she could do was watch as the fragments of Arceus' Judgement descended from the sky, ready to destroy anything they touched.

Then, everything changed. Her brow furrowed as one by one...the fragments faded into nothing. Arceus' eyes looked up into the sky questioningly, becoming angry as its power disappeared before looking back down, equally as surprised as the brown-haired human girl. May looked around in shock as pieces of broken rubble began to disintegrate into thin air, and the broken holes scattered across the ground began to fill in. Several of the fallen and crumbled pillars began to disappear as well, re-appearing where they originally stood with no traces of damage from the battles that raged on here today. May noticed that her friends were looking around equally as confused, as well as Lexi's friends, before things became even stranger.

In a matter of seconds, each of the pokemon who were engaged in battle against the alpha disappeared. May looked to Lexi's friends and extended her arms, opening her mouth to call out to them, before she felt her voice get caught in her throat.

Webb disappeared. Mason's eyes went wide as he looked to where the man once was, feeling his shoulders for his friend's arm that should have been there, but no longer was. He looked at the others questioningly before looking to May, opening his mouth to ask her what was going on.

Then Mason disappeared. Trevor and Gina stared in shock at where he once stood, looking at each other in confusion before Gina looked down at herself. The corner of her lips perked upward just before Jack's incineroar disappeared as well, leaving her to enter into a fall: but she never hit the ground.

Gina disappeared. Trevor looked down at his open palms, turning them over before looking up and down his torso and legs. He finally took notice of the slight transparency to his skin, seeing that it was rapidly becoming stronger as it made its way up his body. He looked up to May, seeing her surprised reaction as he began fading right in front of her eyes. But he only gave her a smile, followed by a small nod.

Then Trevor disappeared. The brunette stared ahead of her with wide eyes, confused at what was going on as Spear Pillar continued to repair itself all around her, the alpha also looking around in confusion. Then even the god pokemon itself disappeared. As well as the lifeless Krystal on the ground.

"May," the girl turned her head towards her friends, noticing them getting closer as Lexi looked at her with a confused expression. Then even she disappeared. Everyone in the group seemed shocked to watch it happen right beside him - save for Dawn and Brock, who shared a concerned look. "...I think Ash did it."

"Did...it?" May asked, the older man giving a nod.

"He changed history. And now...the present is altering itself in accordance to those changes," he explained, May looking around as the glowing seemed to start fading. The changes stopped. Nobody else disappeared. All that they noticed afterwards was a slight breeze blowing over the ruins on the mountain's peak. "Whatever Ash did...it seems like it fixed everything. It doesn't look like that big battle from before ever happens now."

"But...that doesn't make any sense..." everyone looked to Gary, who had his thumb against his chin with a puzzled expression on his face. He appeared deep in thought, then looked to Brock. "You say all of that was because of the changes Ash made, but...then that doesn't explain why other things that _should_ change are still intact."

"Other things? What are you talking about?" Misty asked, the researcher giving a concerned look as he pointed at what he was referring to. The others were confused to see his finger pointed at...him.

"Us. _Our_ memories," Brock and Dawn exchanged a curious look while the others continued staring at Gary. "If what I assume is correct, logic would dictate that memories are not altered unless a change is made _directly_ involving the memories of the person in question. So no matter how much we interacted with Jack, that never altered Lexi's memories because we weren't involved with _her_ directly."

"So...If that's true, then what Ash did in the past directly involved not just one, but all of them," Dawn stated, the researcher giving a nod.

"Exactly. But now think about the previous line of events: Ash met Jack and the others one by one, going through his planning process until eventually going to the Unova League to become the champion, where _we_ met him for the first time."

"Right..." Brock trailed off, letting Gary continue.

"Now, does everyone still remember that time?"

"Yeah/Yep/Sure do."

"Okay, now more specifically...Does everyone remember _Lexi_ being there?"

"..."

"..."

"...Yeah/Yep/Clear as day."

"Then that's the problem right there," everyone gave puzzled looks at Gary. "If we still remember that encounter, but Lexi _lost_ her memories of Leader, Jack and everyone else, then _why_ would she still be there? She should have disappeared from that memory, as well as the memory itself!"

"...Huh...You're right!" Dawn exclaimed, a look of pure confusion on her face.

"What does that mean, then, Gary?" May asked, the researcher putting his thumb to his chin.

"I don't know...If Lexi never met the others, we should be able to assume that our memories of meeting her should have changed as well...but it's as if there's something preventing that..."

"What if Ash did something else for us, as well?" Misty asked, prompting a curious look from Gary. "If Ash made a change that removed Lexi's memories of him, as well as something that directly affected each of the others, who's to say that he didn't do something to our past selves, as well?"

"Because that wouldn't work," she looked to Brock. "If he did, then we still would have gotten a memory alteration like Lexi did. We would remember seeing him in the past, as Leader."

"But then...What could it have been...?" Gary asked aloud, falling into thought on the matter as the others fell silent.

"Maybe I can help you with that."

Everyone exchanged confused glances, wondering who it was that had spoken up. It sounded familiar: masculine, for sure, but...not like Max, Gary or Brock...

"Ah...Over here, guys."

Everyone's head turned towards the source of the voice, seeing the amused grin on the man's face. They couldn't help but stare in surprise as they recognized him, his arms crossed behind his head. "J...Jack!"

"Huh, so it was right. You _do_ know my name," he chuckled, walking closer towards them before stopping a few steps away. Then something occurred to him. "Hey...Actually, all of you look kinda familiar...Haven't I met you somewhere before?"

"Y-You remember us?" May asked, surprised. Jack rubbed his finger under his chin, narrowing his eyes as he stared curiously at her in particular.

"Vaguely...Which is surprising. I usually remember beautiful girls pretty clearly," everyone sweat-dropped, noticing him flashing a wink towards the group at one individual that caught his eye the most. Dawn began slumping slightly behind Gary with a forced smile.

"Jack...What are you doing here?" the man's eyes looked back to the pretty brunette, clearing his throat as he reached inside his vest. Then to everyone's surprise, he pulled out something familiar.

"I've had this for as long as I can remember, but to my surprise, it came with something pretty interesting tucked away inside of it," everyone watched as Jack flipped open his notebook, showcasing that the majority of the pages were empty. Then towards the end, the pages appeared full from top to bottom with written text, confusing them.

"What...is that?" Gary asked, eyeing the text curiously. Jack flashed them a smile as he waved the notebook slightly.

"Before we get to that..." May flinched as he suddenly appeared very close to her, his hands holding hers which made her start to grow nervous. She also couldn't help but notice the _very_ eager shine in his eyes, much like a child's. "...What was it like to time travel?!"

"...Huh?" the brunette blinked, utterly confused. Jack noticed this, glancing down at their joined hands before he quickly backed off, clearing his throat again with a slightly bashful look.

"S-Sorry. But...You guys _are_ all time-travelers, right? From an alternate timeline?" everyone exchanged looks of shock. He... _knew?_! But how?! "Since I can clearly tell you're confused how I know that, let me explain. I can't remember when I first got this book, but I do know that it should have been empty when I got it. But it wasn't long before I found this interesting story written towards the back of it, telling about a man who wanted to change the world, how he recruited friends to help him do it, but was hindered by his friends from his old past, yada yada yada, _time travel_. And then those friends who time traveled would be brought back to the _present_ \- which is specified as this hour on this day, at Spear Pillar in Sinnoh - and that _I_ , Jack Ketchum, should make my way here if I want to find what I've been searching for my entire life."

"But that's...That's all that happened before- It's _our_ timeline!" Brock stated, Jack giving a nod with an eager grin.

"It also said you would be pretty confused about all of this, since you wouldn't think that I know you when I see you. But lucky for me, this story told me that you guys would be the only ones I find on Spear Pillar at this exact time. It's a real good thing I'm a huge fan of sci-fi, or the very idea of time travel would have made me laugh! Man, am I glad I didn't!"

"But...But why would you believe all of that, then? You couldn't have just believed it because of some sci-fi movies or novels!" Misty exclaimed, the man giving her a funny look.

"Yeah, I don't blame you for thinking that. Truth is, I did doubt this pretty badly at the start, but then it started getting into some pretty personal details about me that kinda freaked me out...so I kept reading. And the more I read, the more I realized that whoever wrote this seemed like they really knew me, somehow," he explained, Dawn leaning over May's shoulder.

"He kept reading? I would've called the cops..." the brunette stifled a chuckle, casting an amused glance to her blunette friend.

"Anyway, now that that's all settled and explained, let's discuss that time travel for a little bit. I've still got some time here before- Ha, 'some time', that's funny to even mention when talking about time travel," Jack chuckled to himself, trailing off on his thought as everyone else exchanged confused looks.

"Uh...Jack, what do you mean? Some time before what?" Max asked, the man giving him a perplexed look.

"And also, you mentioned that the writing told you to come here to find 'what you've been searching for your whole life'..." Gary added, the man giving a nod as he crossed his arms behind his head.

"Yeah, that's the one thing I don't know. The story doesn't go into detail on that one, it just says that I have to send out a few letters and I'll be greatly rewarded," he explained, the brunette still giving him a funny look.

"And now that I think about it...Why do you seem perfectly fine right now? What about your health?" Jack gave her a curious glance, breaking into a smile.

"Aww, are you worried about me, miss?" May's brow furrowed. "Alright, alright. About my health...it's perfectly fine. I was told by the doctors when I was growing up that long after my dad abandoned me, there was one person who visited me and managed to help clear my condition entirely. I really owe it to that guy, otherwise based on how much the doctors and nurses used to dodge my questions as a kid in the hospital, I'm willing to bet I wouldn't even be alive here today."

"Wait, so who was this guy? Did they say?" Dawn asked eagerly, the man giving a nod.

"He was my twin brother," everyone looked at each other in shock. "Doctors say that that he was willing to give me anything he could from his own body to help save me, since he felt responsible for my bad health. The sad thing is, I never even got to meet the guy, so I still have no idea who my own twin even is," Jack trailed off as his eyes narrowed on the group, leaning forward slightly and rubbing his chin with a curious look on his face. "...And the more I think about it...The more it's amazing to me. You guys look _exactly_ as I remember you in the hospital, way back when."

"Did...Did the doctors say where your twin went? After he left?" the group grew nervous as Jack went silent. He straightened himself up, a troubled look on his face as he scratched his cheek.

"...The doctors told me he never left the hospital."

May's legs grew weak, almost immediately collapsing to her knees. Her eyes remained blank, frozen wide open as she stared at him in disbelief. He...never left...? "...No...It can't be...There's no way..." her lower lip started quivering, tears quickly starting to form in her eyes. "He...H-He couldn't have..."

"Yeah, I heard from the doctors and nurses that the guy never left the building after the surgery. Which is a shame, 'cause I would have liked to...meet him..." his voice trailed off, noticing the distraught look on May's face. "Did you...know him, by chance?" the brunette remained frozen stiff, Jack glancing curiously to the others. The others seemed to be too shocked to respond as well, but he noticed the two taller men give a slow nod. A solemn expression came over Jack, looking back to the brunette on the ground as he put a hand on her shoulder. "...I'm real sorry, miss. I may not have known the guy, but...he was a hell of a guy, willing to even risk his own life for someone else. Especially one who didn't know or appreciate him...as much as he should have, at the time..."

"Hey, you guys! Are you the ones who sent that letter to us?"

"Yes, I'd like to know that as well. It is quite annoying to climb a mountain without a clear purpose."

"Oh, come on, sis, it's good exercise! You know you could use it~"

"And these two annoying girls have been bickering the whole way up here..."

"Heh, you haven't exactly been a ray of sunshine yourself over there, man."

Jack's head turned, as well as everyone else's, towards the small staircase leading to the entrance into the mountains that led up to Spear Pillar. They noticed that five figures were coming into view, one distanced further apart from the rest while the others seemed to walk in two pairs. One of the girls was twisting her fist against the other girl's head with a blank expression as the other whined about it, while the pair of older-looking men gave them questioning and amused looks while the third man walked alone, hands in his pockets as he had a slightly irritated look to him. Max, Gary, Brock, Misty, Dawn and Max's eyes all went wide as they fell upon the girl with the knuckle against her head, crying out like a child.

"Heeeyy, come on, Gina! I was kidding! You know that!" the icy-blunette whined, the silver-haired girl stopping her actions which made her friend give a pouting face. "You didn't have to be so mean..."

"I've told you countless times to consider the consequences, Krystal, but you never listen," the silver-haired girl replied plainly, her friend glaring daggers at her.

"Uh...Those two sure seem close," the orange-haired man chuckled, his green-haired friend giving a nod of agreement. The shorter blue-haired man simply crossed his arms, turning his head away with an unamused expression before looking towards the others he didn't recognize.

"Hey, you. Are you the ones who sent this?" he pulled an envelope out from inside his shirt, holding it up in the air with an expectant look on his face. The two men near him as well as the girls each pulled out an envelope as well, the same facial expression coming over their own faces.

"Yes, that would be me, everyone. No need to thank me," Jack said with a smile, holding his hands out to his sides as he started towards them. The others exchanged brief glances.

"...Yeah, no need is right."

"No offense, dude, but all you did was sound like a stalker with how much detail you put into these. And you didn't even mention the reason why you called us here."

"I don't even know these two guys, but I'm with them on this one. Plus, you seem like a real enemy to women, in my opinion..."

"My sister's right. I'm not trusting you."

"What?!" Jack almost tripped, but managed to catch himself before falling. Straightening his vest before clearing his throat. "R-Right, I guess it said that you guys wouldn't remember, either. Not to worry, I'm here to explain everything."

"I'm leaving," Jack nearly fell over.

"H-Hey! You...!" Jack trailed off, quickly looking down at the text in his notebook before looking up at the lone man starting back towards the entrance. "Trevor! C'mon, man, you gotta believe me when I say this is gonna be one amazing story I'm about to tell you!"

"The only thing that's amazing is that I haven't attacked you yet for somehow knowing not only my name, but also numerous other facts about me despite us _never_ meeting before," he replied sternly, stopping in his tracks and looking over his shoulder. Jack sweat-dropped, chuckling nervously. The story _did_ say that he would be the hardest to deal with. "Plus, I get a very annoying vibe from you. I'd rather not get involved here."

"W-Wait, please!" Trevor stopped again, glancing over his shoulder a second time with a more irritated look on his face. Jack quickly looked to the others, noticing that they appeared rather doubtful as well. "I understand that you're suspicious, believe me, it makes sense. And what I'm about to explain is gonna sound _very_ unlikely, maybe even impossible if you don't believe in it, but it is all true, I swear! You can even ask these guys if you don't believe me!"

"And who are they?" Gina's suspicious and blank eyes redirected to the group behind Jack, noticing them suddenly becoming nervous as they notice the attention on them.

"They're some of the main characters! Or rather, one side of the mains, apart from the group of us as the other side. Look, I know those letters must have sounded fishy when you first got them, but I had to get you here on this exact day at this exact time in order for _us_ to meet _them_! Otherwise, chances are that we never would have met!" Jack explained, Krystal's eyes narrowing on the group across from them.

"Who's to say that wouldn't have been better?" she asked bluntly, Jack giving a sigh to himself.

"Oh, come on! You've gotta at least give me a chance here-!"

"Um...Excuse me?"

The five figures heads turned back towards the entrance, Jack and the other group's eyes looking past them to notice yet another lone figure coming into view from the steps. The girl gave a sigh as she reached the top, her fist against her chest as she regained her breath from the climb through the mountain, looking around curiously at the other five. "I'm sorry, but...I got a letter saying to come here today at this time, but that climb was a little longer than I expected. I'm sorry I'm late-" her voice stopped as her eyes drifted past the five, noticing the others across from them. Or rather, one person in particular. She stepped past the five, who exchanged confused glances at the newcomer as she had a look of surprise on her face, strands of her blonde hair blowing lightly in the wind. But the majority of it was held in place by a white hairband, which bore a small and amateurish signature along the side. Something that the one her attention was drawn to had noticed immediately. "You...Do I...know you...?"

"Yeah...It's been a while, Lexi," the man watched as the girl stopped moving towards him, now standing a handful of feet across from him as the breeze blew gently through the air between them. Neither one spoke, nor did the surprise on their faces lessen. The five behind Lexi started to look more confused at the silent stare-down happening in front of them, while the other group watched with more knowing smiles. Then finally, the blonde girl broke into a smile of her own, moving towards the man. Jack could barely react before her arms wrapped around him, embracing him tightly which embarrassed him.

"I'm sorry...I just feel as if...this is the right thing for me to do right now," her whisper in his ear was quiet, and sweet. He felt his cheeks heat up more, his own hands slowly making their way around her before they finally rested against her lower back. Then he felt his own lips curl into a smile.

"...Yeah...I've been looking forward to this day," he replied, the blonde pulling away with a gentle smile on her face. "That hairband...You're still wearing it."

"Yeah..." her hand reached up and touched it softly. "It's kind of a strange story, though...I had a dream where I met this really important person to me, and he gave me this as a gift. But I only managed to ask him one thing before I woke up, and that was-"

"His name," the blonde blinked in surprise, the man giving a sheepish smile as he scratched his cheek. "Just a hunch, I guess."

"...Yeah. His name was all I got from him before I woke up, which...made me kind of sad, since I felt like...he was more important to me than anything..." the man's cheeks warmed up, glancing away from her nervously as he crossed his arms behind his head.

"W-Well, hey, coincidence can pop up when you least expect it!" he stated, turning away from the girl slightly which made her give him a curious look.

"If you don't mind me asking...You sent this letter, is that right?" the man hesitated before giving a nod. "Then...How do you know my name? Or...about my past before that performance...?" she watched the man scratch his cheek, turning back towards her with a bashful look as he offered her his hand.

"...The name's Jack," the girl blinked as she looked down at his hand. Then she looked back up to his face, clearly embarrassing him as he started to blush at how intently she was staring at him.

"...That name...It's..."

"The same from your dream?" Lexi blinked again, a deeper curiosity forming in the light of her eyes. Jack gave a small smile, nodding toward his open hand. "You might think it's coincidence...but it's not. And believe me, there's a lot of even stranger stuff I could tell you in this book I have here...if you're willing to give an old friend a chance."

"Friend...?" the blonde wasn't expecting it, nor could she stop it, as tears began to roll down her cheeks. All while her eyes never looked away from Jack's. "...I...I've always wanted to hear that...even once...not just in a dream..."

"Well...You'll be hearing it a lot more from now on, Lexi," his smile grew, which spread contagiously to Lexi as her own lips curled into a smile as well. She gave a silent nod, wiping away the uncontrollable tears as May and the others watched with smiles of relief. Everything worked out well for the two of them, after all. And they could see that beyond the pair, the five others had since turned towards one another and started their own little chats.

"Nice to meet you, Gina. The name's Webb," the green-haired man grinned, the girl with silver hair giving a calm nod all while her icy-blunette sister stared at her in disbelief.

"I can't believe you even got her name from her..." she uttered quietly, Mason giving her a curious look before gently nudging his friend's elbow, prompting a discreet glare from Webb. Trevor remained with his arms crossed, turned away from them but standing closer than before, that is until Gina turned away from Webb and walked closer to him and faced him directly. Trevor noticed her presence and glanced to his side curiously, noticing the girl staring at him blankly without a word.

"...I'm Gina."

"...Trevor. Can't say it's a pleasure yet, until I know more about you."

"Likewise. You're pretty much a loner, huh?"

"And you're pretty blunt yourself."

"I appreciate the compliment."

"..."

"..."

"...Maybe you won't be so bad."

"I was thinking the same thing."

"Oh, come on! I'm trying to break her _out_ , not push her back _in_!" Krystal shouted frustratingly, the two men watching in amusement as she tugged at her hair in annoyance at her sister's emotionless interaction. Unbeknownst to them, Jack had begun watching quietly from afar, glancing down at his open notebook occasionally and chuckling to himself as he watched their interactions, unaware that Lexi was curiously looking back and forth between him and the notebook.

"Y'know...It's weird," Trevor, Gina, Krystal and Webb each looked to Mason, who had a rather perplexed look on his face. "Just a few minutes ago, I thought of you guys as nothing but strangers. But we haven't even talked for very long, but...it almost feels nostalgic. Like we could actually be friends, or...even-"

"Family?" each of their eyes looked over to see Jack walking towards them, smiling with a notebook in his hand while Lexi followed closely beside him, an equally happy smile on her face. "That's exactly right, Mason. And the reason for that is all right here. That is, if you're willing to give me a chance now?" the five exchanged curious glances, moments of silence passing before they each finally gave a sigh.

"Alright, let's hear it, then."

"Yeah, if there's a reason this feels so familiar, I'd like to hear it."

"Same here. I didn't want to say anything because I thought I was imagining it, or Gina would call me a weirdo."

"My sister _is_ a weirdo, but I also had the same feeling."

"Hey!"

"Ugh, as long as you can get these sisters to stop bickering..."

"Well, no promise there, Trevor," Jack chuckled, looking down at the pages in his hands. He smiled as he read over each of their names once more, recalling the words from an earlier page that convinced him to do all of this in the first place. _"'They may be troublesome, but it will certainly be worth it', huh...?"_ Jack looked back up to the five in front of him, where the icy-blunette now appeared rather annoyed with Trevor as Mason held her back and tried to calm her down, all while Gina hid a small smirk to herself. _"...Yeah...They certainly seem like it."_

"Looks like things worked out well for all of them," Brock stated, crossing his arms as he smiled at the sight of the other group becoming friends so quickly. "And I can only imagine that that's...what Ash wanted from now on..." no one spoke after that remark, even Brock starting to regret saying it. Those words left a tension in the air that weighed upon everyone in the group. Especially on May.

"You okay...?" Dawn knew the question was pointless as she put her hand on her friend's shoulder, the brunette giving a slow shake of her head.

"No...I'm not..." the blunette frowned, feeling guilty for having said anything until she felt a hand on her own. Looking at May's shoulder, she noticed the brunette's hand on her own, then a small smile on her friend's face as she looked her way with a single tear in her eye. "...But if it's what Ash wanted...then I'll have to learn to support it. Otherwise...How can I still say I really love him?"

"May..." Dawn trailed off as her friend shook her head again, wiping the tear from her eye as she looked back to Jack and the others, who had circled around him as he shared the contents of the notebook. May felt the corner of her lips curl upward again, her eyes resting on the blonde girl of the group as she smiled, listening as Jack recited the story. And May couldn't help but notice while everyone stared at the words of the book curiously, Lexi was the only one who was looking at Jack.

"...Ash cared about each of them, like they were his own family. Of course he would do what he did for them..." the others exchanged concerned glances as she trailed off, but didn't press the matter. Instead, they all watched as Jack suddenly dropped the notebook and started running away, Gina, Mason, Webb and Trevor looking closer at the book while Jack was closely pursued by a clearly angry icy-blunette as a blonde watched them with a look of concern. And all the while they enjoyed the sight of Krystal pouncing on Jack with fire in her eyes, they each couldn't ignore the sadness in their hearts. Nor the empty spot which once held their dear friend: but they knew they would remember him. They could never forget. If Jack and the others didn't remember him, then someone would need to carry on his memory. And as May's hand clutched tightly to the bracelet around her wrist, she knew that his memory would never die out in her heart.

* * *

 _EPILOGUE_

* * *

May frowned, staring up at the ceiling of her bedroom in silence. It took her a few minutes before she finally sat herself up on her bed, breathing an exhausted sigh as she rose to her feet and started towards the doorway. Then she made her way outside, shielding her eyes from the blinding high-noon sunlight of Petalburg.

It had been nearly two months since everything that happened at Spear Pillar. When they descended the mountain, they traveled alongside Jack and his friends as Krystal taunted him nearly the whole way down, joined in by Trevor and occasionally even Gina, to his own dismay. May and the others couldn't help but smile and laugh at how close they got so quickly, but didn't think it was strange in the slightest. They had already become the best of friends once, after all, so why would a second time be so odd?

Though the more painful part was after they had parted with Jack and the others, knowing what should come next. They had to return to Pallet Town...to Delia, and tell her everything that happened. Meeting their expectations, the woman became distraught after hearing what happened to Ash, breaking into tears which had started re-ignited her own sadness she had been desperately holding in. Even Dawn and Misty shed tears again, as well as her little brother. May felt it was necessary to mention to Delia about her other son, Jack, which seemed to throw her for a loop. She explained everything: his father bringing him to the hospital, abandoning him, his weak health, running into Ash by chance, and then joining him which led them to the events of Ash's terrible price paid in order to help his brother. Though the woman was stricken with grief over Ash's choice, she did express her gratitude to May for telling her about Jack, finally getting closer about her own son that she never got the chance to know.

Time seemed to pass fairly regular after that, leading to today as May now walked along the dirt path leading towards Petalburg Forest, her hands behind her back as she watched the nearby wurmple and shroomish scatter at the sight of her. She quietly sighed to herself, her pace slowing down as she felt the struggling weight on her mind once again.

Dawn had insisted after leaving Delia's home that May stay with her and her mother for a while, but May refused. When her friend asked why, she told her that she needed some time to process it, but reassured Dawn that the same thing that happened last time wouldn't happen again. Her first order of business was to return to the Giant Chasm and release Kyurem, since she felt undeserving to keep it in her party, not to mention it had helped her with what she needed. But May couldn't help but frown at what she had told Dawn: it wasn't _technically_ wrong, but it wasn't right, either. She wasn't locked in her room day after day like before, but at the same time, she didn't leave the house as frequently as she probably should. Her parents expressed their concern for her after hearing the story and offered her any help that they could, but she just smiled at the time and thanked them. Even though there was nothing they could do to help. There was nothing _anyone_ could do to help. Not this time.

The brunette sighed again, her butt falling backwards onto a park bench as her elbows fell onto her knees, her chin landing in her open palms. She stared down at the grass with vacant eyes, her mind flashing back to the time at Spear Pillar: commanding Kyurem. Ash. Being sent back in time with her friends to help stop that crisis from happening. Ash. Finding Jack in the past and helping Lexi through it. Ash. Watching them meet again after the timeline changed. And then...Ash.

"It always comes back to him..." she noticed the corner of her eye start to get bubbly, wiping away the tear with a sniffle. She hated herself for being weak as the tears started flowing, unable to stop them as she attempted to wipe away the endless substance. "...I lost him again...Why am I always so helpless...? Why do I always trust him and let go?!" she stomped her foot into the dirt, sniffling again as she became frustrated with herself. She could have taken his hand on Spear Pillar, and never let go. Then he never would have been taken. They wouldn't have parted ways and traveled separately into the past. Everything could have gone a better way...a way where Ash would survive.

She quickly rose to her feet, looking up at the blue sky above her. Then she let out a frustrated scream, scaring away the taillows and wingull from the trees nearby, seedots falling to the ground after being startled. When her scream stopped, she took a deep breath and wiped away the last of her tears, glancing down at the bracelet around her wrist. Turning it slightly, she read the inscription on the inner side, her lower lip starting to quiver before she shook her head briefly. Her expression turned serious, clearing the sadness and worry from her mind. Ash wouldn't want this. So she needed to be strong. Stronger than she was that day she lost him not once, but twice. She started walking towards the path that led out of the forest, determined to become a better version of herself so that she would never face such pain again.

"It's a shame those eyes are crying. I can't see my future clearly like that."

The brunette's feet stopped. Her whole body froze. In an instant, she lost all control of her emotions: tears started flowing down her cheeks once more, her hands trembling at her sides as she slowly drew them up to cover her mouth. She sobbed as an intense warmth spread from her chest to the rest of her body. She was too stunned to even turn her head to look...but she didn't need to. Her hands fell from her face, revealing the happiest smile she had ever had on her face as she sniffled. There was no need for her to turn around to the voice behind her. Because she already knew: she always did, ever since she first re-met the current Jack on Spear Pillar. A part of her had never stopped holding onto hope for it.

"You're the one who kept your angel waiting."

* * *

 _The Hall Of Origin, approximately three hours after the great legendary battle..._

 **"Then we will help you. However, there is one condition that you must agree to first."**

 _"Condition?" Leader's head turned to give a curious look to the lake guardian, expecting it to explain more. But it only gave an affirmative nod. The man looked back down to the god descending towards Spear Pillar, where his friend - his brother - stood provoking it. Leader's fists clenched on the invisible force holding him in the sky, his teeth held together in frustration. "...Whatever it is, I agree. Just get me down there."_

 **"If that is the case...Then know this,"** _the small pink figure floated in front of the man's face, looking him in the eye with a serious face._ **"Arceus will not rethink its judgement of you, or your friend. So in due time, if you challenge it, we will battle alongside you. But only if you promise that you will do one thing for us in return."**

 _"Whatever it is, I will! Please!" the man's pleas made the three lake guardians look to each other, sharing a nod as they hovered around him._

 **"During the battle, once Arceus is distracted, we will communicate with Dialga and ask for its help. Just as it was willing to with your other friends."**

 **"We will try to defend Dialga to the best of our abilities, to give you the greatest chance of succeeding in changing the past, but you cannot change things freely as you wish."**

 **"So before you grant your own wishes to help your friends...You must seek the three of us first, and tell us everything that will happen in this version of the present. Only then will we help you."**

 _"What...?" Leader's eyes drifted down to his friend down below, noticing that the alpha was now much closer to him. He grit his teeth, closing his eyes. "...Then I agree. I'll make sure to find you in the past before anything else."_

 **"Then let's not make your friends wait any longer,"** _Azelf said, each of the lake guardians holding their arms out and touching the man. Then they all disappeared in an instant._

* * *

 _Past, during Leader's time jump..._

 _"Are you...sure you're ready for this, Ash?"_

 _"...I am," he took a deep breath, lying himself back on the table. A part of him felt strange answering to that name...he had abandoned it so long ago, it didn't feel like they were even talking to him. But right now, Ash Ketchum is exactly who he needed to be. Turning his head, he saw the familiar man lying on the table beside him, unconscious thanks to the mask over his face. He smiled to himself, feeling his heartbeat start to get faster. So this was it, huh...? After everything...this is what it came to in the end..._

 _"We're ready to start, whenever you are," he could hear the doctor's hesitation in his voice. No wonder: it's not every day that someone agrees to being willing to give their own life for someone else. And normally, the person in question should probably feel scared, or nervous about it. But he was as calm as could be: the sight of his brother, and the thought of preventing all the pain and suffering of his friends that he had witnessed...that was more than enough to help him decide._

 _"Let's do it," the man rested his head back, closing his eyes as he felt the mask come down over his face. He heard one of the doctor's footsteps move around the table he rested on, his body starting to go numb. This was it...He was starting to lose feeling in his body. He couldn't help but smile as various memories flashed across his mind: but mainly, it was the simple image of the people that he had held dearest in his heart. Mason. Webb. Trevor. Gina. Krystal. Lexi. Jack. And of course, May. Just the thought of her smile made him feel a tear form in his eye as everything went silent around him. It was only a matter of seconds now...He only regretted not being able to say goodbye to May this time..._

 **"Ash."**

 _The man's eyes slowly opened, confused at the familiar voice. He glanced over, noticing the doctor's hand on the valve to the gas that should be currently knocking him out. Though the man didn't seem to be moving. He glanced to the other side, noticing the other doctor looking at the variety of tools on the tray in front of him. Though he wasn't moving, either._

 _"What...?" Leader pulled the mask off his face, slowly sitting himself up and looking closer at the two doctors. Were they...frozen?_

 **"If the story you told us is true, then this is quite the leap of faith for the sake of your friend,"** _the man closed his eyes, the corner of his lips curling upward. He turned his head and opened his eyes again, noticing the three lake guardians hovering together towards the side of the operating room as they looked at him._

 _"Maybe, but it's what is necessary," he replied, the legendaries exchanging glances._

 **"But is it truly?"** _the man's fist clenched at his side._

 _"Of course it is! Because despite everything, I'm too weak to do anything else!" he punched the table beside his leg, not bothering to look to the trio as he grit his teeth. "I couldn't help Jack in my own time...and this is the only way I can help him_ now _. So please, release whatever psychic power you're using to stop these two doctors and let them do this surgery."_

 **"...If you wish to save your friend..."**

 **"Then your solution is simple..."**

 **"...Why not just ask?"**

 _Leader looked at them questioningly, but noticed that they were no longer there. His eyes looked down as he noticed something strange on the chest of his shirt: a faint glow. And then it suddenly got brighter. He winced, expecting some kind of pain to follow...but nothing. He looked around the room, finding the lake guardians now hovering between him and the unconscious man on the other operating table. They each extended their tails in different directions, one tail touching Leader's chest while the other touched Jack's, the gems embedded in them starting to emit a crimson glow. The three then closed their eyes as the man noticed a similar glow from his own chest on Jack's, growing concerned before the lake guardians suddenly opened their eyes, a golden glow in their irises as Leader suddenly felt the strength leaving his body. He looked down at his palms curiously as the glow on his chest grew brighter, as did Jack's until he had to shield his eyes from them. Then in a matter of seconds, it faded. No more glowing, his strength returned in a second, and the lake guardians closed their eyes again as they hovered down onto the table beside Jack's waist._

 _"...What..._ was _that...?" Leader asked, staring curiously at the small legendaries as they rested against one another._

 **"Something we have never done for the sake of a human, especially at another human's request,"** _Uxie's words confused him further, Azelf opening its eyes and turning to look at the man unconscious behind it._

 **"A human soul is made up of three basic structures: emotion, willpower, and knowledge. When the three are bonded together, they form what you humans call a living soul,"** _Leader stared at Azelf intently, waiting with bated breath for it to continue._ **"And when this soul is formed, a physical host is needed to harbor it in order for it to grow and develop properly."**

 **"But what humans don't realize...is that souls are not** _ **required**_ **by nature to be kept apart,"** _his eyes turned to Mesprit._ **"Applying our powers together, and properly...the three of us are able to not only transfer a soul between hosts, but also** _ **join**_ **them."**

 _"...Then...what you just did..." the man trailed off, staring at the trio in awe. The three legendaries shared a knowing look, giving a small nod to each other before they each redirected their attention to him._

 **"In order to save your friend, whose soul was weak...we bonded it with the most powerful soul that we thought would be best for it. Yours."**

 _"...You...You can't be serious..." Leader couldn't find his words, his eyes looking over to Jack's resting face. The lake guardians lifted themselves off the table and hovered into the air again, staying close to Leader's head as he stared at his unconscious friend in disbelief._

 **"When you came to us recently in our lake caverns, you told us you were willing to give your own life for the sake of your friend, which is not something we have seen often in a human. I could sense that despite the pain and suffering you've endured, you were being truthful and care deeply for this man, more than almost anyone,"** _Mesprit told him._

 **"And I could feel the determination in your heart to help him, no matter what it would cost you in the process,"** _his eyes drifted to Azelf, who gave a smile._

 **"And I could see that you possessed the painful knowledge of how to save him. As well as the same terrible price that Azelf could see,"** _Leader stared at Uxie, then his eyes drifted down to his open palms in front of him._

 _"So...We're connected, then? With no consequences? Just like that?" he asked cautiously, expecting there to be some catch._

 **"So long as you do not squander our efforts and act recklessly...you will live the rest of a normal human lifespan. Both of you will,"** _the lake guardians gave a look of concern as they noticed a small droplet fall from the man's cheek, hovering in front of him to see him starting to cry._

 _"...Thank you...Thank you so much...I can't...express how...thankful I am..." the lake guardians exchanged glances as the man hurriedly started wiping away the tears, feeling his voice starting to be swayed by his emotions. And not only the sight of it, but the feel of it brought a smile to Mesprit's face and a warmth to her heart. There was nothing false about this love she felt: not in the slightest._

 **"You need not thank us. We chose to help you of our own free choice,"** _Uxie told the man, hearing him sniffle quietly as he lowered his arm and gave them a smile._

 _"...Then I hate to sound selfish...but...could I ask one small, final request?" the three legendaries glanced to each other curiously, then looked back to the smiling man._

* * *

 _His eyes started to open slowly, recognizing the familiar sight of the rooftop of his room. Then he saw the window to the side of his eye, followed by the bedsheets over his lower body and the edge of the hospital bed. Despite having just regained consciousness, he couldn't help but give a yawn, stretching his arms above his head._

 _"Mr. Ketchum?" his eyes drifted towards the door, noticing a doctor coming in with a smile on his face. "I'm glad to see you're awake again, Jack. I'm happy to say that we've got great news for you."_

 _"What's that, doc?" Jack asked, sitting himself up in his bed. The doctor flipped a paper over the top of his clipboard, smiling more as he read the next page._

 _"Well...It seems that the most recent transplant operation was a complete success. We've already run tests, and everything about you is working at full capacity," the bedridden man's eyes widened slightly, staring at the doctor in awe._

 _"...Are you serious...? Don't mess with me, doc!" his playful taunts made the doctor chuckle, but the professional only nodded his head. Jack couldn't believe his ears: he could barely contain himself as his whole body started trembling beneath the bedsheets. Then in an instant, the doctor nearly jumped as he was on his feet on top of the bed. "Yeeeeesss! It's over! It's finally over! I'm finally..._ normal _!"_

 _"Yes, yes, but I still don't advise you push yourself like this," the doctor told him, the hospital patient stopping his victory dance in an instant with an embarrassed smile on his face._

 _"Sorry, doc, but I can't help but be-" then something came to his mind. "...You just called it a transplant operation. That means there had to be...a donor, right?"_

 _"That's right."_

 _"...Who was it?"_

 _"Well, believe it or not...it was your own twin brother," Jack nearly fell onto his butt in the bed, his eyes wide as he stared at the doctor._

 _"...What...did you say...?" he could barely form those few words, the doctor giving him a nod._

 _"The one who came to us and offered to help get you better was your own twin brother, who you were separated from at birth. We managed to prepare a transplant operation right away, and thank the heavens that it was exactly what you needed to cure that condition of yours."_

 _"I...I have...a brother...?" the doctor's brow furrowed, surprised that he didn't seem to notice what he had said. Instead, Jack's eyes shone with a curiosity like never before at the thought of something he never imagined: he had a brother. "...Where is he? Is he still in the hospital? Or did he leave? If he left, did he say where he was going?"_

 _"Whoa, whoa, easy," the doctor chuckled, backing his face away from Jack's who had gotten rather close and personal. The hospital patient fell back onto his butt on the bed, staring at the doctor expectantly with an eager grin for an answer to his questions. Though the more the doctor looked at him, the more he found it difficult to say anything. Which Jack easily noticed._

 _"...What's wrong? You know where he is, don't you?" he asked, the medical professional taking a deep breath before placing his hand on Jack's shoulder. He looked down at it curiously, giving a questioning look to the doctor as the older man seemed to hesitate rather strongly._

 _"...Jack...Your brother never left the hospital."_

 _"...Really? Then he's still here?!" his excitement rose in an instant, looking towards the door with rising hope in his heart as he thought of leaping out of the bed that very second. But he managed to hold himself back. "Where is he? The cafeteria? Does he have a big appetite like me? I bet he does, but can he handle spicy-"_

 _"Jack," the younger man blinked, his expression slowly shifting into one of concern as the doctor stared him in the eye. Then he gave a slight shake of his head. "...He never left the hospital...because he never got up from the operating table."_

 _"...What...?" Jack's heart sank in his chest. His hands had to fall onto the bed behind him to prevent himself from falling back, feeling an ache in his chest. He gripped the front of his shirt, squeezing it tightly in his fist as he looked down at his lap. His brother...the family he never knew he had...was now...?_

 _"I'm sorry, Jack. We explained to him how potentially dangerous or even fatal the operation could be...but he still insisted on it, claiming that saving your life was more important than his own," Jack's eyes widened, looking back to the doctor at his words. He merely gave a slow nod. "I'll give you some time to process. I'll be back in a little while to run some more tests on the oxygen levels in your blood cells, but I won't rush you," Jack remained silent as the doctor left the room, leaving him all alone with the crushing truth behind his recovery. He didn't even know that he had a brother...and now he was dead for his sake._

 _Jack weakly reached for his notebook on the nightstand beside him, pulling it onto his lap and then grabbing his pen. He flipped to the first blank page and moved the pen towards it to start writing, but it stopped just short from making contact. He noticed his hand starting to tremble, clutching the pen tighter as he swiftly pulled it away and smacked his open palm across the page, dragging it to the left as well as several other pages that stuck with it. Jack rubbed between his eyes, clenching his teeth at the thought of what his brother could have been like, his free hand balling into a fist and preparing to punch the book before he noticed something. Beneath the crumpled corner of the page he had struck earlier, there was...writing. He flipped the page, surprised to see not a blank page, but a page full of written text. And as he started reading through it, it seemed strange to him: he had never wrote this. A man who gathers friends to help change the world...but they become his family instead, and time travelers work to help prevent their futures from being riddled with suffering...What the hell was all of this?_

 _Nonetheless, Jack found himself continuing to read through it. And the more he read, the more he became intrigued by it. By the next page, he found himself fully invested in the strange story before him, his eyes eagerly reading line to line as he searched for what happened next. And then he reached near the end, which brought his reading to a stop. Where the main character named Leader traveled through time himself...and was willing to give his life to save...his own brother..._

 _Jack's fingertips grazed the words on the page, staring at them curiously before slowly flipping to the next and final page. The story continued to tell of how the man successfully saved his brother, but it cost him his own life in the process. This...was a coincidence, right? Because that...sounded exactly like what he was going through. Even the brother's name was the same: Jack. Just like his own name. A short amount of blank space followed the final line of the story's conclusion before Jack noticed one final passage of writing. And as his eyes read over it, he felt an odd smile creep across his face. It was almost involuntary, not to mention uncontrollable. Jack rested the book on his lap and crossed his arms behind his head, smiling as he stared down at the final portion of text, reading it in his mind over and over again._

 _Jack, you do not need to search for family or a place to belong. You already have one: just like in this book. You only need to find it again._  
 _\- Leader_

* * *

 _Present_

"Come on, Jack, just tell us already!"

"Yeah! Or don't tell me, did you two finally make it _official_ ~?"

"W-Wha- _No_! No way!"

"Y-Yeah! What he said!" Krystal gave a knowing smirk, her suspecting eyes darting back and forth between the man and blonde girl sitting beside him, who were both blushing profusely and looking slightly away from each other. On the man's opposite side sat a slightly taller man with green hair, Krystal having her silver-haired friend to her left and an orange-haired man to her right while another man sat on the end of the table with an unimpressed expression. The group was currently sitting at a table in a small café, having been called to gather right away by Jack.

"Don't tease so much, he'll never get to his news that way," the icy-blunette sighed as she cast an unamused glance to the silver-haired girl sitting beside her, giving a shrug of her shoulders as she lowered her chin onto her arms crossed over the table.

"Yeah, Gina's right. Plus, we all know it's gonna happen eventually, so it's not like it's gonna surprise any of us," Mason gave a hearty laughter, joined by Webb as Jack cast an annoyed glare at them, his blush not having subsided while Lexi looked down at her lap shyly.

"What did you call us here for, Jack?" leave it to Trevor to not mess around like the rest. Jack smiled, crossing his arms behind his head and leaning back into the booth seat.

"Well, you guys remember how I entered that amateur's newcomer-author competition?" he asked.

"We remember how you entered someone _else_ in it, since that technically wasn't your story," Jack's eyes narrowed on Gina in a glare as her eyes looked away with a casual expression, but he could still see the slight smirk in the corner of her lips.

"My _point_ is...I actually managed to win top prize for it!"

"You mean whoever you _stole_ that from got top prize?"

"Shut up, Krys', it was _given_ to me! Just let me have this!"

"Have what? Credit for someone else's work?" the icy-blunette smiled innocently as she ignored the glares she was receiving from Jack, the blonde beside him giving her a concerned look.

"Krys', come on, be nice for once. This is a big thing for him, we should be supportive!" Jack felt himself blush again as he glanced over and saw the warm smile on her face before her eyes looked his way, his own eyes immediately shifting away. "Congratulations, Jack, I'm so happy for you!"

"Yeah, man, pretty impressive," Webb nudged Jack's arm with a smile, the raven-haired man giving a sheepish grin as he scratched his cheek.

"Hehe, thanks, Webb. I appreciate it," the man replied with a bashful expression, Trevor arching an eyebrow as he looked at him with his arms crossed.

"But aren't you still curious about who even wrote it? It may have been signed at the very end, but it's not like 'Leader' is a real name," he said, Jack giving him a curious look.

"Of course I'm curious. Plus all of those people from that day on Mt. Coronet didn't seem to want to talk about him," Jack crossed his arms behind his head again, leaning back and looking up at the ceiling. "Which really sucks, honestly. A real story about time travel and changing history, I would've loved to talk to the guy who was responsible for all of it..."

"Maybe it would cause some kind of time and space distortion, and we would be wiped from existence if we learned the truth," Krystal grew a sly smile as she noticed her words put a worried look on Lexi's face, before feeling a fist fall down onto her head.

"Disregarding my sister's idiocy, perhaps there _is_ some form of temporal irregularity that would occur if we were to pry into it," Gina said, ignoring the glares she was getting from the fake-pouting girl beside her.

"Well, we can worry about that for the rest of our lives!" everyone looked to Lexi, who suddenly began beaming as she looked over to Jack. "But for now, Mr. Ketchum the _author_ , any ideas for the next novel that will be coming out?"

"A-Ah...Maybe?" Jack's eyes avoided hers again as he grew embarrassed, scratching the back of his head while the others minus Lexi exchanged knowing glances.

"Meaning no idea."

"Yep, nothing."

"Not a clue in his head."

"Not even a real _thought_ in there."

"You better not build a portfolio off _stealing_."

"W-What?! Come on, you're supposed to be my friends! How could you even accuse me of such a thing?!" the man reached into his vest, looking offended as he pulled out a maroon-cover book. "And here I was gonna offer my family a look at the first ever printed copy of it!"

" _Yoink_ ," Jack blinked, his eyes darting to Krystal as she opened the book on the table in front of her, the others around her leaning in curiously to look as well.

"Hey! You could try asking!" he exclaimed, the blunette waving her wrist dismissively as she looked on the inside of the cover. She and the others' eyes narrowed curiously as they read the small portion of text, then looked up to Jack.

"Hey...You thanked _him_?" Jack smiled, pulling the book back towards him.

"Sure did. After all, I couldn't have done this - or _anything_ \- without him," the man stated. Krystal and Gina exchanged a glance before breaking into smiles, the same thing occurring with Mason and Webb while Lexi's smile never faded as she watched Jack, even Trevor giving a small smirk to himself. Jack's eyes looked down to the first copy of his newly-published novel, feeling himself smile even more as he read over the small section of text on the inside of the cover. There was no way he could _not_ include it: it was an important part of his life. One that he could never forget.

 _This is dedicated to Ash Ketchum: as thanks for being my brother, as well as the reason I'm here today._

"So, then, who's up for bowling?" Krystal asked excitedly, earning a chuckle from the two oldest men of the group.

"Stop being such a child," the silver-haired girl's comment went ignored by her sister, who looked eagerly at each of the others.

"I'm in," Lexi chimed, Mason and Webb exchanging glances.

"Guess we're not busy today," the icy-blunette's eyes looked over to Trevor with a pleading look, which was noticed by the man as he turned his head away from her and closed his eyes. But he could still feel her staring at her.

"...Only if you stop being so annoying," Krystal broke into a smile, finally looking to Jack. The man sighed, giving a slight shrug of the shoulders.

"You don't have to ask me twice," his reply made Krystal's face light up.

"Alriiiight! Come on then, let's go right now!" as everyone stood up, Jack was the last to rise after Lexi who seemed to wait for him. Jack noticed her flash him a smile, feeling his cheeks warm up as he returned the gesture before looking down at the cover of his book one more time and reading it. He couldn't think of a better title for the story before the deadline of the competition: _"For A Future Not His Own"_ , though that still sounded a little tacky in his mind. So he had decided to add a subtitle directly beneath it, as a sort of nod towards the main point of the story, as well as being one of the main reasons he decided to submit it in the first place. And it couldn't fit any better: _"The Sacrifices Of A Leader"._

"I guess I found my family again, Mr. _Leader_..." he chuckled to himself, noticing Lexi stop following the others and glance back at him curiously. He waved his hand dismissively, watching as the girl smiled when he started following her. And as he watched Krystal start to bicker with Gina, while Mason and Webb laughed and Trevor kept his attention elsewhere as if pretending he didn't know them, he felt something touch his hand. Looking down curiously, he noticed a hand holding his own as he felt himself gently tugged forward, looking curiously at Lexi who only smiled warmly at him. Yeah...He _definitely_ found his family again. And this time, he felt like he belonged.

 **END**

 **Ooookay, first off: apologies to those of you who have either enjoyed any of the previous stories in my** _ **Liberated Champions**_ **series, or have spent any time at all looking forward to next chapters being released. At several points along the way, I found myself losing the will to finish this story (not to mention being distracted from going the lemon routes of my other stories), and I was fully expecting myself to scrap this story. I had a full outline of the rest of the series, but I could never bring myself to expand it into the actual remaining chapters of the story. And yet by some miracle, likely at least a few weeks prior to the release date of this chapter, I got some random burst of motivation to finish it and miraculously managed it.**

 **With that being said, this ending may not satisfy some of you. I realize that, everyone should realize that because let's face it: stories and movies can** _ **never**_ **have one ending that satisfies everyone.**

 **I would like to take this opportunity to thank those of you who have actually read this, and stuck through with this series to the end despite its constant breaks and hiatuses, no matter how few of you there are. This story definitely could have been better, since I found myself taking breaks from it far too often which eventually led to alterations in the plotline. Regardless, I thank each and every one of you reading this now or who have read any of the previous installments, even if you're not here now. I probably would have scrapped this long ago if not for all of you guys.**

 **Anyway, I hope you can understand each portion of the ending/epilogue and I don't need to explain it. The voice talking to May should be pretty obvious (if you don't recognize their lines, check** _ **Blast From The Past**_ **), as should the final request that Ash made of the lake guardians (why might the doctors have said he died and not remembered the truth? What was the last message Ash left for Lexi in the notebook? Uxie** _ **is**_ **the being of knowledge).**

 **Alright, at the very end of it all: thanks again! Now that it's all wrapped up, I hope you've enjoyed the** _ **Liberated Champions**_ **series!**


End file.
